Last fall, an accomplished freelance photographer working for The New York Times was given access inside Mount Sinai Brooklyn to document the care being provided to COVID-19 patients.
One of the images recently appeared in a lengthy photo essay titled “A City Ruptured” showing the changes to New York’s economy due to the pandemic. And the photographer, Ashley Gilbertson, a New York City resident known for his photographs of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, shared additional images.
The black and white photos are dramatic and moving, and they provide a rare glimpse of a hospital doing what is necessary to care for patients and serve its community during a time of crisis.
“As I look at these images, what I see is staff, nurses, techs, and doctors, providing care for very sick and fragile patients,” says Peter Shearer, MD, FACEP, Chief Medical Officer and Vice President, Medical Staff, at Mount Sinai Brooklyn.
He adds, “One year into this pandemic we only have a few, modestly effective new medications for COVID-19. What keeps these patients from dying is the endless care that staff provides: care is encouraging confused patients to keep their uncomfortable oxygen masks on; care is helping a patient spend time lying on their belly; care is ambulating patients so they don’t weaken during their stay. Providing this care is hard work, and these people have been doing it day and night for over a year. The staff also provides care to co-workers, and that sense of community keeps us going.”