I realize this does not apply to an actual employee, but I thought the story would be important to share because it demonstrates the lengths to which family/friends will go to help in a crisis.
I would like to recognize the aunt of a patient of mine as an “Honorary Mount Sinai Employee/New Yorker.” My patient is an 18-month-old boy born prematurely, also diagnosed with severe tracheomalacia. His two primary caretakers—his mother and grandmother—almost simultaneously began exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 infection. Fearing that they would both require hospitalization in coming days, leaving no one to care for the child, the patient’s aunt drove 20 hours from the Midwest to take care of her nephew, arriving just as the child’s mother had started herself on her son’s home oxygen.
My patient is currently well, now in the care of his aunt, who has quickly learned to attend to her nephew’s complex medical needs. They are staying at an apartment donated by a friend of the family. My patient’s mother and grandmother, both of whom required several days in the ICU, are on their way to recovery. The grandmother is expected to be discharged home in a few days, while the mother may require a week or more in the hospital.
I would like to recognize this child’s aunt for making the two-day journey to help her family in this time of need.
Alfin Vicencio, MD, Vice Chair, Clinical Affairs and Strategy, Chief of Pediatric Pulmonology