Member Spotlight: Kim Latrobe

Vascular Technologist, Surgical Vascular Lab, Memorial Campus

interviewed by Rafael Rojas, 1/26/21

I work in the Vascular Lab, in which I do vascular ultrasound and work right alongside the surgical team. It’s pretty neat that we get to work directly with them, but it’s gotten pretty crazy with this pandemic. When COVID first started, it was classified as respiratory illness, but as the studies progressed and the multitude of symptoms that patients would feel were identifies, it became clear that it is a disease that directly effects the vascular system. This meant that it got very busy very quickly. It is pretty tough right now with how saturated every day is with work. We have changed our protocol drastically to manage time, and to monitor the ways in which we go in and out of the surgical room. For example, we have reduced the time of certain procedures that were not as essential, such as scanning. This has saved us time in the room and has felt really well done.

In the beginning, everyone was very nervous about the pandemic, but also about carrying out new procedures correctly and effectively. Now it feels standard and walking into that surgical room seldom feels any different from walking into it last year.  

We have a really strong team and a really organized manager in the Vascular Lab. She always seems to be one step ahead of whatever seems to come up, and she has been great at getting the whole team ready for the new changes. She actually held meetings every week with us as this pandemic started to grow – just to check in on how we were feeling and what we wanted to work on. It is because of this preparation and initiative that our team was prepared before we even started. This surge we were also able to better prepare with the PPE and the feelings of being safe and relaxed came with it. Things are also looking up with the vaccine being distributed. Our manager helped us out by arranging our schedules so that taking the time to get vaccinated would be easy, and many of my coworkers will be getting their second dose soon! 

I live down in Connecticut where things are so messed up compared to how things are at work. Their plan to get vaccinate regular citizens was so poorly coordinated that people cannot book their appointments to receive their second dose when they need it. I still wouldn’t say that I feel safer at work than I do at home, but when I go to the store, I am reminded of this joke that we have at work. We say that it’s better to go into COVID room than to go to an outpatient room where you are not covered in full protective garb. I guess in the same sense when you go to the store or anywhere nowadays you kind of have your guard up a little bit. I’ve been lucky to not know anyone closely who has had any serious outcomes from getting sick, and it’s important that I do what I can to keep it that way. My husband is at a slightly higher risk than me, and this fear comes naturally when you are trying to protect your family.  

This second surge was a scary thing to go through, but I’m hopeful that things will start to get better. With that said, I still think that this is going to be a longtime thing. I’m wondering how this is going to affect people in the future with hugging and socializing. It’s tough to imagine that it will feel the same as it did. Maybe this is just me. There are really some people out there with completely different mentalities, and they’re already living as if this pandemic is all made up! Just the other day I was at the store and I ran into a man with no mask. “Oh, you’re one of them,” he said! One of them . . . it made me take the time to look at him and explain that I work with COVID patients, and that I know my actions are protecting him. He just looked at me funny, I think hoping that he would get me all defensive and wound up, so he just laughed and walked away. I knew he would have nothing to say, so it felt good to have stood my ground and be confident in knowing that I’m doing the right thing.  

Hopefully the actions of those who are doing the right thing will be enough to let us go back to what we miss the most soon. For me it is that moment of getting to hug the ones I care about that I look forward to the most, and I know that I’m not alone. Just the other day I had a coworker come up to me in tears saying that she just could not stand having to be so distant from everyone anymore. I’m thankful that she came up to me to share these feelings. I want all of my coworkers to know exactly how grateful I am for their ability to keep the calm and to keep the smiles in our office. It’s pretty common to run into someone who is just having a terrible day, and it’s okay. As a team full of workers and nurses who have gone through hell, it’s amazing how people will pull through to keep their composure and each other’s spirits up. If you think I’m “one of them,” I’ve got you fooled! 

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Read more about Kim’s experience in the Vascular Lab UBT Spotlight!

Member Spotlight: Tenille Dudley

Medical Assistant, Lincoln Street Primary Care Clinic

Interviewed by Rafael Rojas, 1/22/2020

I am a medical assistant over on Lincoln Street Primary Care and things have been running smoothly with our office. A typical day at work can now involve a patient come in who is COVID positive, but thanks to our PPE and our management we’ve stayed clear of any issues. For better or worse, I was out of work at the start of the pandemic recovering from a surgery and came back once all of the new procedure had been set in motion. After twelve weeks away, I returned to work in April. Everything felt very different. We had almost completely transitioned into telehealth appointments, and the patients came back very gradually. I’m thankful that this immediate change was not as bad as I had worried it would be. The time I spent at home was overrun by what was on the news. I saw the disease spread through our cities and the rest of the world, and I was petrified to go back. I’m lucky that I walked back onboard to our office running smoothly. My coworkers did a great job helping me get used to the new procedures, and I soon felt very safe.

What worries me more now is the removal of the COVID-pay policies. It makes me nervous to know that employees will come in with a cough or a cold because they feel like they have no other option. You now have to use up to five days of your time before you can even qualify for short-term disability and workers comp. [note: COVID pay currently only covers COVID infections from exposure at work, according to the current COVID policy.] It’s not fair for people to have to choose between providing for their families and putting their coworkers at risk. There are new precautions being put in place, and the vaccine has given some people a lot of hope, but the pandemic is still affecting all of us and our employee-health policies should remember that.

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While I have still not gotten vaccinated, I have been very good about not leaving my house and risking any exposure to the virus. Every day I go straight to work and back home, and when I need to go to the store, I am always very careful. In a way that’s been a vaccine of its own kind, and I’m proud that it kept me and my family healthy. This new lifestyle and all of the time I get to spend at home has even brought us closer! My son Cassius is only ten years old and I’m already able to spend time with him and teach him how to cook. He’s left-handed, so it’s been a fun challenge to teach him when he holds the spoon and the knife differently than I do. It means a lot to me that I’m able to keep him active by playing board games with him and thinking of other activities to do together. It’s a lot better than how much time he could be spending playing video games.

Cassius is anxious and excited to go back to school. There is a tentative return date for March 15th – depending on how the numbers are. He really misses his friends and teachers, and although he gets to see them over zoom and is doing well in his classes, he misses being there with them. It’s tough because I do want him to go back to being with them in person, but I think it’d be best if they just finished the rest of this school year off virtually. Cassius has learned to do a lot of different chores and the value behind helping around the house. For us, it’s not worth the risk of people getting sick when he’s able to learn such important things at this early age. Although it’s been tough, and it is important for them to go back to being in person, I know that as he grows up, he will be able to look back on this time and find fond memories.

Member Spotlight: Denise Page

Medical Office Assistant, Primary Care Clinic

Interviewed by Anna Weick, 12/8/2020

“Coming back here from my disaster-relief work to the situation with COVID-- it’s bad, I’m not putting it lightly. But I’ve dealt with the worst of it. It’s using your head. Listen to the experts.” 

Helping Where Help Is Needed Most

I worked through SARS, in the midst of all that. I worked during the AIDS pandemic. The COVID pandemic is not my first rodeo. I’m on the National Disaster Medical Services Medical Assistance Team. I’ve been on it since right after 9/11. When that happened, and I saw what was going on, I saw a lot of my coworkers and friends were going there, through FEMA, but I couldn’t be part of it because I wasn't on the team. So, I applied and I’ve been on the team since. So I’ve been there. I was at Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Isaac, fifteen different hurricanes and tornadoes and disasters. I was at Hurricane Katrina for fourteen days. We slept on the Baggage 5 Carousel at Louis Armstrong Airport -- that was our sleeping quarters. 

In March, I was in California in San Diego for the Princess Ship that came in when this whole thing broke out. I was dealing with patients there. We went there blindfolded. We didn’t have the supplies or N95s we needed. We made it work. I didn’t have enough equipment. Of course I was scared. But we managed. I’m pretty well grounded on this stuff -- I’ve been dealing with it. I was in California for fourteen days dealing with COVID. I was in PPE for twelve-hour shifts, seven days a week. 

Dealing with COVID, Firsthand

COVID is so very exhausting. I’m a lucky one -- I got it and I’m still around talking about it. My husband and I both have tested positive. It’s hard because we all do what we are supposed to do. We wear goggles every day. We wear the mask every day. We do our hand sanitizer and wash down our stations and everything. My husband got sick first. He came home from work not feeling well. My daughter got it in April. She works in the ER. She was bed-ridden four or five days with joint pain and headaches and fatigue. She would literally fall asleep talking to you. She lost her taste and sense of smell for a couple weeks. It did take her a while for it to all come back, but she’s back to normal again. 

Working with Unknowns

This is our job. When a paramedic is assigned to pick up a COVID patient, that doesn’t mean they signed up to be assaulted by that patient. I didn’t sign up to get COVID because I had a patient with COVID. No one signed up for this. But this is our job, this is what we do. This is just one thing that is happening and we have a long way to go -- God knows what else can happen. You will come up against these roadblocks, you have to know how to tear it down and keep on going forward. I still got COVID while doing everything as carefully as possible. I had a friend who was literally in the ICU for eleven days on a ventilator because of this. He was a nurse in the ER. He pulled through. Thank God he’s fine now. 

Day-to-Day Challenges

Previously, I worked in the ER at UMass Memorial for twenty seven-years. I’ve been in my current job for two and a half years, working as a Medical Office Assistant. The doctor I work with is with Internal Medicine. He has a huge clientele. He’s one of the busiest doctors in the clinic. His patients range from all different ages. I go over my doctor’s schedule. I get all the patients in the rooms. I do their evaluations with them. I go over all the medications. And I talk to them, do their vital signs and so forth. I report everything to the doctor that I did, he does his part, and then I go back in and reschedule the patient for their follow ups, any test results they might need, and I draw their blood if needed, get them to different x-rays, whatever else they need. We do EKGs. We keep them comfortable. We try to do as much as possible in the clinic with the patients so we do not have to send them to the ER. I keep my room stocked with supplies all in order. I make sure all the orders are correct. I do sometimes draw the patient blood, but mostly send them to the lab for blood draws, only because my doctor is so busy. On a Tuesday and Friday I have between sixteen and twenty patients. It’s nonstop. I don’t think people realize all I do in the office until they fill in for me, and then they’re like, How did that room get clean? And who just hooked that patient up to the monitor? Who just did those vital signs? Who changed the bed? Who fed that patient?  Oh my god, you do so much! 

How Do We Keep It Going?

We don’t get recognized enough. It takes a whole village. We do a lot of COVID precautions before patients come in. It could be worse, we could be in the ER, doing what they have to do every day. With COVID, everyone is all about the nurses. Sometimes I think people forget that the person below the nurses are doing a lot of the work, too. The ER techs, the PCAs, the medical assistants, without them, they wouldn’t get everything done. We do a lot of that to get everything going. I think we are forgotten sometimes. The nurses do a lot of work, but without support from the Tech, and from the MOA, that’s not happening. The Food Service, the ER Techs, Trauma techs, Housekeepers -- without them, we would be in a crisis. They are putting themselves in harm’s way. It’s all of us, all together, making it happen. 

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I feel like I’m accomplishing things doing patient care, something that is important to me. That’s what I always strived for. You’re making a difference helping the patient out, you make a big difference in their lives, which is important to me. With the family members it’s always gratifying when a family member comes back and thanks you for taking care of somebody they love. They know your name and they come in and say Denise, thank you for being here, I’m so glad it’s you today. It makes you feel good, I’ve left a good impression. I will call patients at home at times to schedule appointments, to make sure they are doing better. They appreciate that and I like that. It makes me feel like I am worth something for them. 

I feel good that I’m making a difference, even if it’s a regular patient in for something simple. I know I made a difference with that person, I made them smile as they walked out the door. No one is doing this by themselves -- there is no way -- we can’t do it by ourselves! Our roles are very important and people need to realize that we are all in it together.

Member Spotlight: Phil Berry

Ambulatory Services Rep & SHARE Rep, University Campus Endoscopy Suite

interviewed by Anna Weick, 12/10/2020

Healthcare workers are more than just the doctor and nurse who complete your appointment. They’re also everyone behind the scenes. They’re our food service workers, our maintenance staff, our housekeeping staff -- all of these individuals play an invaluable role within the healthcare system.

I’m on the Health Equity Diversity and Inclusion Council (HEDIC) at UMass, and one of the things we’re discussing right now is ensuring that access to the COVID-19 vaccine is equitable -- that anyone on the frontlines, regardless of their title, will have access to the vaccine. It’s been really inspiring to see that intention set firsthand. The Council was looking for regular hourly employees to join the council and diversify the perspectives. Most people who serve on the council have been senior VPs and higher-level staff.  I was introduced to the Council and their work through my Union Organizer. Being a part of SHARE allows me to be part of a larger conversation about creating positive changes and improving health equity in our community and even within my own workplace.

A lot of change is happening on campus, with COVID and within my department. After every briefing that Governor Baker or Dr. Dickson has to inform the public of any COVID updates, we get inundated with hundreds of phone calls, questions about the patient’s appointments and procedures. People are worried about the impact of the virus on their preventative maintenance. After one of the last conferences, patients became concerned that their outpatient procedures were being cancelled due to the announcement of the cancellation of inpatient, elective procedures. Even though my team doesn’t schedule elective inpatient procedures, our phones were off-the-hook with worried patients. The whole purpose of this announcement was to avoid inpatient bed overload, but a single word in a press briefing impacted our entire week’s work.

We have many appointments to be scheduled in the backlog due to COVID with 7 of us on staff. It’s hard because the world’s focus is on COVID-19. The focus is not on people getting their screening colonoscopies. It’s not at the forefront of people’s perception. We all start out our day with daily COVID-19 check-ins. We are still coming in every day and scheduling our patients and taking our calls. We are still doing our jobs, nothing has changed since the beginning of COVID. There was maybe a month where about three of us were doing other jobs -- I handed out masks at the front entrance -- when we weren’t scheduling as much. After that, everything went back to normal. It’s more stressful in our roles now because we are working as schedulers and healthcare providers, we provide emotional labor to patients to convince them that it’s safe and necessary for them to get their health care.

The top 5 languages in our organization are Spanish, Portuguese, English, Vietnamese, and Albanian. For the longest time we’ve been asking supervisors, managers, and others for patient instructions in those languages, and it wasn’t on their priority list. Then I finally got a chance to speak with a Nurse Supervisor of a different location and explained the problem with the lack of clear, translated instructions and the problems it posed for our patients. When I brought this concern up, we were able to address this, locate the instructions and have them uploaded. Now, every single one of the top 5 languages are in our system. I just want to make sure that our patients are taken care of and get the care they need.

 Working as someone who is LGBTQ — I am queer, I am trans, I am nonbinary — and working in a medical space is definitely interesting, to say the least. There isn’t much respect around pronouns and gender identity yet, but I’m hopeful for the future we are creating. I work on the LGBTQ subcommittee for the medical school and I volunteer on the HEDIC. I’m in places where I have some influence and a voice at the table. Being queer and being in a medical setting . . . it feels like I am a trailblazer, even though I know there are so many of us in these roles. All of us are trailblazing to change how things are for the people who come after us. That is something that influences all my interactions. My drive is improving the healthcare system to care equitably for LGBTQ+ people. I’m in school now and plan on being in larger roles within the organization — I want to be running a department. I want to learn, and grow, and bring the perspective that I’ve had from working in other various roles within the organization to that table.

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I love being a union rep. I like being able to help my coworkers with questions about their benefits, their work, and their rights as an employee. Everyone comes to me, as the union rep. If something goes wrong, they come to me. I’ve learned through this that a group of people standing up for a common interest not only changes the world around them but changes their individual lives. By talking to each other, sharing our experiences, and being authentic with what we deal with in our lives, we are brought closer together in the struggle. By sharing honestly with each other, we have the opportunity to create better lives for ourselves and each other. Being able to connect with people and learning about what they’ve gone through -- it brings my own struggles into perspective.

Member Spotlight: Nancy Barrett

Communications Center, Marlborough Hospital

interviewed by Rafael Rojas, 1/6/2021

This Monday was the first day in 40 years where I felt like I really didn’t want to go to work. My kids were just growing up when I started this job, going part-time on Friday nights. It was my very own Friday night out for a while. I really love getting to talk to people, I enjoy my coworkers, and it is fulfilling work. So, when I felt this way on Monday, I called my boss to talk about it. She was fine with me taking the day off and just getting a break.

My department took on the challenge of putting together the COVID testing kits for the community. At the start of the pandemic, the demand for these kits was not nearly as overwhelming as it is now. There are barely enough to make it to the next day. Each day requires 500-800 tests, and that’s as many as we can make for the day. It’s tough to go through all of that work and feel like there won’t be any left; we just have to start over. 

Putting the tests together in such large quantities is definitely tough work, but the biggest challenge is to keep doing our normal job on top of it, and to do it well. These last few weeks have been very, very, busy and very overwhelming. Thankfully, going into this next surge the hospital administration has put out a call to anyone who would like extra hours to help us out. We really need it.

Perhaps the biggest impact that the pandemic has on our workplace is through our personal lives. It is really tough to want to see my children and their kids and have to wear my mask, or even not see them at all. You can tell that they’re scared and don’t want to get me sick. It’s really hard to see that fear in them. It’s moments like these that make you start thinking ahead and get worried to go into work. My ‘chipper’ attitude does fade as the day goes on, but it’s the time before work, when you worry most, that poses the biggest challenge. This all gets better as soon as I step inside. As I said, I love my work and it makes me happy.

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We all need time off. But, for the record, that day when I really felt like I didn’t want to go in to work? I went to work anyway. And I was fine! You know, I’m a morning person, so once I got there all of the girls were like, “Why are you so chipper?” Everyone is in this together, and if we work together, we can get through it. If people speak up and speak their mind and let their concerns be known, they will be addressed. It’s a good thing to get your feelings out and let them be known at a time like this. Speak with your supervisors about how you’re feeling, do the best you can for yourself and for your department and we will get through the days where it’s tough to go in.

Member Spotlight: Anthony Baidoo

Radiologic Technologist, Marlborough Hospital, 12/28/2020

In the beginning of Covid-19, we did not have adequate PPE. The demand from COVID overshadowed the supply. It wasn’t that the hospital didn’t want to provide it- it is that the manufacturers had to catch up with the demand. So, we had to ration what we had. We had to reuse PPE or use UV lights to kill the germs. It’s better now that we know better about COVID than previous, and now management is prepared better than the previous. We, radiologic technologists, are also more mentally prepared and that is helpful. 

We were scared at first with the first lockdown for Covid-19. However, through persistence on the job, we came out of the darkness. The initial lockdowns made the cases go down so the workload reduced a bit, but now that it is picking up it is a different world that we’re going into. 

One day, I went with a colleague into a patient's room. There was a gentleman who came in for a Covid test. He was coughing and had a shortness of breath. We told him we were here to perform x-rays on his chest. He responded by saying “I regret telling you this, but I have to tell you that initially I didn’t think Covid-19 was real. But now with the way I feel I know it’s real.” I want to share this story so that people know it is real. You might survive, but there are others who might not. But if together we accept that, together we can overcome it. 

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I have been a Radiologic Technologist for 10 years now. Before, I lived in Ghana where I was an accountant in a mining company. There, I was lucky to be elected a union leader. I learned that there is a difference between how they manage and what the employees want. Their job is to manage and save the company money and help make the most profit possible for the company. However, the union is able to give the workers a voice at the table as well. 

Before, there was not a union in Marlborough Hospital. Many of my coworkers did not understand what benefits there are to a union. However, I let them know that it is good, no matter how, because the union is a bigger force than individuals. The same way, we have brooms from individual palm fronds. When you get a lot of them you put them together you can use  them to sweep. If there is one, you can easily break it, but when you put them all together, you cannot break it.

There is a proverb in my country that explains this: one person’s hand cannot cover the whole sky. Only together can we really make a difference. This both explains the importance of unions and the importance of working together to defeat Covid-19. 

SHARE Member Spotlight: Samantha Roy

Patient Access Services Rep, 12/12/20

For a Patient Access Service Representative in the Cardiology/Vascular Surgery department, all scheduling calls are urgent. Oftentimes, people can be agitated just because they have just had a bad experience with another person. When people are angry, it is helpful to be patient and to do as much as you can for them. When you answer the phone and have a bad attitude, it is not helpful to the patient. When you are happy on the phone you can feel them smile on the phone. I like to treat people the way I want to be treated. It definitely has its ups and downs, but I try my best to help people in the best way possible.  

Sometimes, the patients calling have cancer or are caring for a loved one who has cancer, it can be hard to tell them about not having an appointment available ASAP. I usually just try to ask a lot of questions to ask how they are doing and making them feel heard. It is really nice to know that someone cares no matter what. When you are sick, you don't want to be transferred to ten different people, but we just try to fix it and make it as easy of a process possible.  

In the beginning of the pandemic, it was difficult to get people scheduled because of the change in phone systems and how quickly everything happened. We used to not have computers or access at home, so it was an adjustment. Also, we have to now ask patients to get tested before coming in and that can be really difficult for patients who have Alzheimer’s or any other kind of disability. Although the process has become a bit more complicated, I like being home and I get to still talk to my coworkers, my friends, on phone or on Zoom. Also, it is much healthier that we are all at home and can stay safe. My son is twelve and he's online too. He's working back-and-forth with the process, too. It has been an adjustment, but we are adjusting together and staying safe together. It is just much healthier to be home and be safe. It is just the way of life right now and is the safest way.  

I am used to changes, though. In the beginning of my career, we used to use paper and then the system changed. The experience of getting used to a new system was quite hectic. I often book up to eighty appointments a day.  

When booking appointments during Covid-19, a patient was trying to get her heart monitor and she could not come to the hospital to pick it up. She ordered it and UPS, due to the pandemic, sent it late and it was broken. She had to return it and then she was told she was going to get another one. Unfortunately, due to the delay she had to go to the ER because of her inability to monitor herself. I followed up with her and made sure that she was seen by our doctors and checked in with her to make sure that she was okay. I made sure that she knew that I was there for her and if she needed anything she could always call. I wanted to make sure that she had someone to call and talk to especially because she had no one.  

I always think that if my mom called someone and did not get the help that she needed, I would be mad. I want to make sure that I don’t do that to anyone and not make anyone angry. Even if I don’t have much time, I want to do as much as possible for whoever I am speaking to and make sure they are able to reach who they need to reach. If I can fix it, I am going to try to fix it. It might take longer, but it should be done right the first time. Sometimes patients will call and they accidentally have reached the wrong person. I try to make sure that I do whatever I am able to do — either connect them with the right office or give them the number myself — especially for patients who don’t know how to look that up themselves.  

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I am glad to be a part of this union; it feels great to have someone that I can text for advice and have someone be there for us and to support us. I saw a letter from the union about letting us work from home and that is so important in case any of us gets sick at this time. The support is huge so that I can do the best at my job especially during Covid-19.  

I try to let everyone around me know that they can call the union if they are having issues. It feels good to be there for other people at work and outside of work. I like to follow my heart and just do what I feel is right as a first responder. As I say, I’m Sam-I-Am. I know who I am, and I like to do what feels right.  

Member in the Spotlight: Sabrine Aakil

Sabrine Aakil

Medical Lab Techician, Marlborough Hospital, 11/11/20

I am really passionate about what I do. I already have my two-year degree and currently work as a medical lab technician, but I am also in school to continue my passions. I work in the lab in Chemistry and Hematology at UMass Memorial, where I process specimens and review the result. 

In the beginning of COVID-19, it was overwhelming for all the hospital staff when the cases were really high. As lab techs, we worried about not having enough supplies to run COVID-19 tests. We used to wonder what will happen if we run out. However, now, we have enough supplies and are not worrying as much. Due to COVID-19, we just have to remain really sharp. We need to engage in proper protocol and PPE usage in order to make sure that we don’t get sick. It is extremely important that we maintain that.

During COVID-19, many patients call about results for their COVID-19 tests. They often have to get tested in case they are traveling or due to their jobs. We would let them know when their results would come in, but many of them are on urgent deadlines due to travel dates. In the lab itself, we only process rapid tests for patients who come through the emergency room. Most of the Covid-19 tests are sent out to another lab to be processed.  

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I love working with my coworkers. We communicate well — we make sure that things are working effectively and the timing is right. We are really good at helping each other work on things that require teamwork. My coworkers are super caring and nice, but also so smart. They have so much knowledge and I love to learn from them. I have learned how to work calmly and to figure things out. We are always learning new procedures and are needing to adapt within the lab. Thankfully, we are always receiving the best training possible. My coworkers also have a great work ethic and it has made me realize how important it is to be working with people who I can look up to.

At work, everyone is always complimenting each other and that makes the energy so nice. During our breaks, we talk to each other more on a personal level.  Before COVID-19, we used to always have baked goods on our table. We always have shared food, goals and ideas for our department. We are always working together to make it a better environment for all of us. Since Covid-19, things have changed. We don't have the option to bring things, but we always talk about what we will do when this is all over. Hopefully, we will be able to break bread together soon. 

Member Spotlight: Jenn Perchak, Medical Office Assistant, Endocrinology

Jenn Perchak has been one of the pioneers in AFSCME’s Free College benefit program, which is open to all SHARE members. SHARE has heard several really great reports about this benefit, and we’re very happy to know that it’s making a difference. As you can see, Jenn is mighty busy, but that hasn’t kept her from impressive success earning a spot on the Dean’s List and then her first college degree. Here she is in her own words . . .

I swore I would never work in the medical field. My mom is a registered respiratory therapist and LPN, so I grew up around hospitals, and swore I would never work in one. When I had my oldest child nineteen years ago, I was looking for a job to do. My friend said to take a one hundred hour course to become a CNA and if you passed it then you would be paid for the one hundred hours in minimum wage. However, I was getting sick of working weekends and holidays. So I decided to become a medical assistant, and now work in the Endocrinology Department at UMass. 

My favorite part of this job is interacting with the patients. I have a patient who found out that I raise cows with my mom and now he calls me “beef” and it's pretty funny. My mom had learned about the bad quality of the meat sold in stores, and so she asked her husband if she can buy a cow. That was a gateway to now having sixty-five cows. I help my mom out with sixty-five grass-fed non-GMO certified cows, and have a store in New Braintree with her. 

Outside of working on the farm on the weekends, I work forty hours at UMass, I have four kids, and I also decided to go to school full time online through the union. I just finished my associate degree and graduated with a 3.9 GPA in June. Now, I am working on my bachelors and just got accepted into Central State of Ohio with the Union bachelor’s program. Going to school has been fun! The classes were not as tough as I thought they would be. It has been super interesting to learn so much. 

It is really easy to sign up for college through the union. You just go to the SHARE website and click the link. I found out about this through a coworker who was starting Nursing school through this same program. She just told me that I should do this and so I am doing it! 

My favorite part about school is that I can apply what I am learning to the farm that my mom and I run together. I am studying Business Management so when I had to write a business plan for school I wrote one for the farm. When I had to work on social media marketing for school, I applied it to the farm. 

If you are dedicated to school and work you can do both! Just take advantage of this opportunity as much as you can. I was just looking at my associate in Business Management and the price of it without FAFSA and the union is $59,000. After FAFSA, the Union paid for the rest. People say that unions just protect the bad employees but I have been with UMass for eleven years and my dues have not equaled 59,000 dollars. We deserve this and more. 

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In the past, I was anti-union until I worked at UMass. Now that I have been in the union, I would not trade it for the world. I have always worked with [staff organizer] Bobbi-Jo from the beginning. It is so nice to have her around and she has been so supportive of me through school. I have known Bobbi-Jo for eight years now and I don't even know if she is technically my union representative now but I told her that you are stuck with me! I can call her any time and I know that she will be there for me. 

SHARE Member Spotlight: Lorie Rosen, Denials Resolution Specialist

I have been working in insurance for 30 plus years. I am currently a Denial Resolution Specialist at UMass. I get lists every week of claims that have been denied by the insurance companies. We have to understand why it was denied. I try to get authorization for it or write an appeal or adjudicate for payment. What happens is someone comes to the hospital and they create a claim for the insurance company. Sometimes there is a problem and sometimes we need to get authorization. We need to do extensive research to understand what has gone wrong and how to change it.

I love the problem solving that my job requires. Developing relationships with different people from insurance companies has been really helpful in being able to get these claims through. We call the insurance companies and speak with them and hopefully get the claim reprocessed. We develop relationships with people from these companies and you get to know them well. I have developed these relationships and when there is a further problem we are able to go through it together. They are going to try harder to solve the issues and if there is a mistake on their end then they try to fix it as soon as possible and speed up the process instead of it coming back. 

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Sometimes, we get to speak with the patients and ask them to call the insurance company to just confirm who the primary insurer is. When I get to talk to patients who might be older and not understand how their insurance works, it is reassuring and warming to let them know to call the insurance company and then I can work with the insurance company to really resolve their insurance issues. This impacts not only their current payment, but also future claims. That is what is really rewarding. 

For example, we have talked to people who have been in a car accident. In these cases, we need the patient to call Medicare to update their status stating that either the claim is not due to the injuries from auth or Worker’s comp or that the auto coverage payment has been maxed out. You need to be able to talk to people effectively so that they will want to assist and make it into a positive.

Work for us has remained similar post-COVID. One of the things that has changed is that we can't scan in documents, but we can use our phones and use the equipment from our office. We are able to use the UMass phone system from our homes ensuring that the calls are secure. I am happy there is not a lot of background noise at home so I can focus more. It is quieter when I am making calls as well because the phone lines are not always great. Also, I don't have a commute anymore and that has been so helpful. I can add a few more hours to my day problem solving and working a job that I truly enjoy! 

SHARE Member Spotlight: Dareth Watts, Patient Care Associate

Dareth Watts

PCA II, Oncology Clinic, 10/9/20

I have been working as a PCA with cancer patients for twelve years. People think that working in the cancer department would be sad, but the patients are amazing. They have the best attitudes and they will fight this.

Yesterday, we had two patients finish their treatment, and it's a big deal around here! We give them a piece of paper that says congratulations and everyone signs it. When they walk out the door they get to ring a bell! It is just such a good feeling to get them through the treatment. It takes people about a month or more to get through the treatment and they don’t have to come back in until maybe six months later. 

We have not had a lot of patients finish recently. Because of COVID, many patients have pushed back their treatment. We can't hug and just there's nothing better than wrapping your arms around a patient to say congratulations. But, we tap elbows now and that has still been nice. I'm a big hugger and patients come in that are crying and upset and I can't give them a hug! It's really hard and tough.

I enjoy so many things about my job. I love the patient interaction and being able to have different conversations with patients to check in on how they are feeling. and see how they are feeling. Just getting to talk to them and hearing them tell me that they don’t need to take certain meds anymore makes me feel so happy. It is such a good feeling for them and being a part of that feels like such a good thing.

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My second family is here at work. This is where I am needed, so I need to be here. I have relationships with the cafeteria, housekeeping, the nurses, the lab and basically every department that impacts the patients’ care. I moved here from Worcester to Marlborough and these relationships were built over time. A patient needed knives, so I grabbed a handful from the cafeteria because we needed them in the drawer. We have patients who come in and need a lab immediately and because of my relationship with the lab I can help get that done for the patient. It is nice that I can ask for what is needed and sometimes they can do what is needed and sometimes they can’t. But if I never introduced myself and talked to them, I would not be able to just go down there and ask for the things that are needed.

If I were to give advice, it would be to be patient with patients and your coworkers. Not being patient and having a temper is not going to help you get very far in the medical field. Everyone has bad days — most days might be fine but there might be a day where your coworker just is having a bad day and is taking it out on you. Just let them do that and go on with your day. You have to keep relationships with people because in this field relationships help us to care for the patients in the best way possible. 

SHARE Member Spotlights: Kellie Morton & Tammy Berry

Tammy Berry & Kellie Morton

PCA II’s, Cancer Center, June 2020 

Kellie:  It’s hard, because this is not the norm, but its going to be the new norm.  I have to say at the beginning of this it was definitely scary.  Then we all started pulling together and watching out for each other – our manager hasn’t really been able to be fully present here because of everything she’s got going on with this, which we understand, we don’t blame her for that.  And then things started to level out a little bit, we felt safer because of all these screeners and things downstairs.  We’ve been operating at 80%, our clinics, through this entire thing.  From what my manager told me, there’s been no transmissions whatsoever to staff here, or to other patients – so we’ve done an awesome job, working together.  There’s a lot that could have gone wrong that didn’t go wrong, and we’re very thankful for that.  But with all the increased volume from other clinics coming back, it’s a little scarier.   

Tammy: Telehealth has really changed the way we work a lot.  For one thing, it takes time, it takes a worker off the floor.  There’s a lot that goes into getting the patient ready for that appointment.  And some of these people have been locked up for a while, and they want to talk, know what I’m saying?  So while that coworker is tied up doing that it can get busy.  We work hard to get people out of those waiting rooms too, so they’re not sitting around near each other.   

K: I think what I’m going to remember about this time is the way we’ve really pulled together.  If we didn’t know for sure what was going on, we’d go to each other to make sure, are we doing the right thing, and we’ve gotten much stronger as a team.   Those of us who really wanted to connect with each other here at work, we really have.  So coming to work during this three month period, I felt safe being around everybody, being around people who knew exactly what was going on every day, the same way I felt, and then we could kind of work through it together.  Even without the managers being around so much.  I feel safe at work because I have confidence in my coworkers, in my team.  At least until they change things on us, and then there’s a scramble.  There’ve been moments that we all just totally broke down.  But there are people around you who say ‘Don’t worry.  Don’t worry.  We’re going to get through this.  We’ll get through it together.’  Yeah, we’re kind of all angry about some of the same things, but we’re also looking out for each other. 

T: Our patients are hanging in too, you know, they’re scared to come, and I mean they’ll tell you I am really scared to be here – I haven’t been out in months.  And we just reassure them, today a lady was like ‘can I touch that?’  In the room.  And I said ‘you can touch that, I clean this room like crazy when another person leaves, whatever you touch I’m cleaning right away.  It’s ok, you’re going to be ok here.’  I try to tell them that its good, you’re good here, but I don’t think they really want to come. 

K: A lot of the ones on my end are coming a couple times a week.  Almost every encounter since this began, anytime I left the room, I’ll say ok, be safe, stay safe.  And they’ll say right back to me – this has happened so many times – they’re all wishing me that I’ll be safe, and they are thanking us.  Constantly.  For being here.  They are scared for us.  I mean, these patients are going through an awful lot, and they are worrying about us.  They say thank you so much for being here, for all you do.  So many people say when this is all done I’m taking you all out to dinner, the whole staff, I’m taking you all out for dinner!  We have good patients!  And we get to know them really well. 

T: I try not to watch the news, but I know there are those people who think that this is a total conspiracy and that this isn’t real, and I’m like, come visit and see what’s happening around here.  I had a patient who said, ‘this mask stuff is crazy, this isn’t going on,’ and I said to him, ‘it is, and it’s very scary.’  I said to him, ‘do you want to come with me across to the hospital and then you can see the people on ventilators?’  He really didn’t believe it.  I made him wear his mask while he was here though.   

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K: Looking around me, around my neighborhood, all the drive by’s, I think people have gotten closer even though they can’t be together.  I’ve watched so many people drive down my street – this is an example, a gentleman worked for an asphalt paving company, and they had I don’t know how many tractor trailers drive to his house, I mean horns blaring, and it was awesome, I stood outside my house and I waved to them.  There was this parade of trucks and when they came back around past my house I was still out there waving.  That was just awesome that those guys did all that because they cared so much about that person.  Tammy’s grandkids did that to her too.   

T: They did.  And then my daughter turned thirty so I did that to her.  And then she told me that that was her best birthday ever, and I believe her – it showed that so many people cared about her and wanted to say happy birthday to her.  It’s special, its very special.  They’ve done it for me too, Easter, Mother’s Day, leaving presents for me at the end of my driveway. 

K: I miss hugging the most, cause I’m a hugger.  We’re both huggers!  That’s been the hardest thing!  It’s been so hard not to hug a patient, or touch them, you even see the doctors, patients will reach out to them and then pull back and say I’m sorry.  But that’s what they would normally do.  Having no contact has been really, really hard on a lot of people.  Even just a pat on the back, let me hold onto you for a second.  I mean, people are crying, they’re upset, and you want to touch them and all you can do is just stand in front of them.  It’s hard.  Then I go home and I’m next to my husband and I’m like, am I too close to you?  Ha!  Sometimes I find myself backing away and then I’m like wait a minute, we live together!   

SHARE Member Spotlight: Laurie Abernathy, Collector, Single Billing Office

Laurie Abernathy 

Collector, Single Billing Office, 306 Belmont Street, 7/1/20

This has been a very challenging time in our lives because of the COVID pandemic. But because of the pandemic, my dream,  to work from home, has come true. I have been remotely working since mid-March.I work in the SBO ( single billing office) located at 306 Belmont St, our group  consists of over 400 employee’s, Customer Service, Physician, Hospital Billing, Payment Posting and several other departments.

Our management did a very good job of getting us out of the building and set up to work remotely quickly. There were glitches, especially in the first few weeks, but we worked together with IT  and got the issues resolved.   During the beginning of the transition , work  was a little more  stressful than normal, due to the fact that  information and processes were continually changing.  Our department had  daily Webex meetings, which  helped us  stay connected and get up to date information.  We also had a  SharePoint tab  created to share pictures of our workspace, and any other pictures that we wanted to share, they are pretty funny , some with cats stepping on  keyboards, or lying on the table near the workstations, It also helped to make us feel connected. Once things  smoothed out, It was easier to  concentrate on work.  I feel I have been more productive at home,  less distractions like phones ringing, hearing others’ conversations,  and of no  interruptions.  It has been comforting to be able to check in with my son during the day as he does his schoolwork,we  have time to eat together, and go for a walk more regularly.   Another factor that contributes to feeling more productive is that overall, I feel less stressed.  The  feeling of worrying that we’ve done all we need to do before leaving the house – dressing, breakfast, lunch making,  Do I have my phone?, Is there enough gas in the car?etc.  Then there’s the commute, whether you drive or take public transportation, you’re always worried about being on time.  Most  of that disappears while working remotely, and it creates a less hectic atmosphere about work.

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The pandemic has changed the world, and  we are all wondering what the “new normal” will be.  I am hopeful that it will cause people to be more mindful of the present and appreciate what we have today, because tomorrow is not promised.      

Member Spotlight: Dianne Degon, ASR

Dianne Degon

Access Services Representative, University Campus Radiology, 5/29/20

Dianne Degon has helped keep things running in our hospital’s Radiology Department for over 20 years. But she’s also a real expert when it comes to childcare, and moved quickly to make sense of the Massachusetts Emergency Childcare system when the COVID crisis began. Below, Dianne describes her experience with work and family during the peak of the coronavirus.  

I’m good . . . doing even better than I would have expected. I have been a foster mother for over 30 years and have four adopted children at home: they’re 11, 13, 14, and 16, and two older children: 25 and 26.  I’ve got only one foster right now; he’s seven months old. I met him when he was a one-month old from the NICU.  

While I’m at work, my foster child is in the state’s Emergency Child Care. That program has really worked well for me. Emergency Child Care is different from regular daycare, it covers the hours that you work, and it’s only if you really need it. They look to see if you have anyone else, a spouse or someone else living in your home, who can watch the kids. If you have other options, you don’t qualify. Fees are covered during Emergency Child Care. 

The child care centers get donations and supplies from the state, so they’ve got what they need, like cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer. Daycare providers are required to wear masks and we are required to hand the child at the door and not walk into the home. Parents are required to wear masks dropping off and picking up, but masks won’t apply to little kids, under two, though. Providers are also required to keep 6 feet between kids for social distancing. 

You can go to the EEC website to find the application and search for the emergency childcare providers. You can search by address, or zip code, or town. The hours vary from place to place, and you can find that information online. I was lucky and discovered an in-home provider near me. She’s only taking care of one other kid right now. I’d used her before, so I already knew how good she was, but you can interview first.  

My workdays go really fast. Telehealth is really picking up. We get lots of calls. Our team is doing well, working well with the docs in our area. Since I’m on-site, I’m transferring calls to whichever Nuclear Medicine scheduler is on for the day and also putting in the faxes in for them. The first two weeks [of the pandemic] we were working relatively slowly, but we’ve got the new process down now, and things are smoother, and we’re scheduling faster.  

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Often when we schedule something, we have to re-schedule the procedure for a couple weeks later due to the precautions with the virus . . . and we just hope that it doesn’t happen again, that we don’t have to schedule out even further. Thankfully, the patients are really understanding and nice about it.  

My older kids are home. They have to get all of their chores and schoolwork done while I’m at work.  We have a couple of staff who come to the house regularly to provide ABA support. They’ve been really helpful. Thankfully that’s an essential service, and has continued through the shutdown. The kids are all responsible to email their teachers right before I get home, so I get a response from each of their teachers. I set that up that system as soon as the schools were out, so it’s become a good routine. 

Actually, the thing I’m most nervous about is things re-opening, the kids going back to school. Right now, we don’t have the usual trips across town for appointments in the evening, none of the usual sports teams. No rushing to get fast food. We’re eating all homemade meals and then enjoying our together-time in the evenings. The girls are making dinner every night. We can all sit down together to watch TV. It’s been a surprising upside. When things get more back to normal, I’ll definitely want to preserve some of the special habits we've started now. 

***

In this past article from the Telegram & Gazette, you can read about Dianne's experience having fostered over fifty children!  

SHARE Member Spotlight: Joshua Resch

JOSHUA RESCH

MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATE, PTRC (PSYCHIATRIC TREATMENT CENTER), 4/29/20

Note: PTRC transitioned to an all COVID-positive unit several weeks ago, after a number of patients came down with COVID-19 and were transferred to University for medical treatment. 

A lot of us understand the field of inpatient psychiatry, but now the whole game is changed. It’s no longer just about the patient and their condition, whether they are manic, or whatever. We still try to reach out to the patient, talk with them about what they care about, encourage them, talk them down if they are elevated. Now all our interactions come with another thread: We are much more guarded, like if the patient is angry, we take a few steps back to see where the situation goes. It’s a new way of thinking, to find an approach that helps the patient but also protects ourselves and the patient from the disease. 

Unfortunately, it was like guerilla warfare when COVID spread in our department. One day you’d talk to a patient or a co-worker, and the next day they were sick, or you were taking the patient to the ED. We watched our patients dwindle down to just 2. It was remarkable, and I’m so curious: What is it about these 2 patients that they didn’t get sick? And 4 or 5 of the staff didn’t get sick – we were the last people standing.  

Who knows, maybe we did get sick and we were asymptomatic. We aren’t allowed to get tested unless we have symptoms, so it’s confusing. 

A lot of my co-workers come from other countries, and their parents live with them. They are very worried about bringing the virus home and getting them sick. 

Some nurses and I volunteer to observe our co-workers taking off and putting on their PPE. It seems ridiculous to say, “Nope, you did that wrong, you have to wash your hands and do it again.” But it’s important. 

We are really making sure we have each other’s back. If someone needs to go to the bathroom, you know it’s going to be a 15 minute process. 

I think now my co-workers and I are finding ways of creating some humor, we rag on each other more than usual. We’re all still scared, but the humor helps. Hazard pay would help too! 

Who are those masked men? They’re the heroes who serve as Mental Health Associates at the PTRC

Some nurses and I volunteer to observe our co-workers taking off and putting on their PPE. It seems ridiculous to say, “Nope, you did that wrong, you have to wash your hands and do it again.” But it’s important. 

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We are really making sure we have each other’s back. If someone needs to go to the bathroom, you know it’s going to be a 15 minute process. 

I think now my co-workers and I are finding ways of creating some humor, we rag on each other more than usual. We’re all still scared, but the humor helps. Hazard pay would help too! 

Who are those masked men? They’re the heroes who serve as Mental Health Associates at the PTRC

Some nurses and I volunteer to observe our co-workers taking off and putting on their PPE. It seems ridiculous to say, “Nope, you did that wrong, you have to wash your hands and do it again.” But it’s important. 

We are really making sure we have each other’s back. If someone needs to go to the bathroom, you know it’s going to be a 15 minute process. 

I think now my co-workers and I are finding ways of creating some humor, we rag on each other more than usual. We’re all still scared, but the humor helps. Hazard pay would help too! 

Who are those masked men? They’re the heroes who serve as Mental Health Associates at the PTRC

Some nurses and I volunteer to observe our co-workers taking off and putting on their PPE. It seems ridiculous to say, “Nope, you did that wrong, you have to wash your hands and do it again.” But it’s important. 

We are really making sure we have each other’s back. If someone needs to go to the bathroom, you know it’s going to be a 15 minute process. 

I think now my co-workers and I are finding ways of creating some humor, we rag on each other more than usual. We’re all still scared, but the humor helps. Hazard pay would help too! 

SHARE'D Stories: A SHARE Member Gallery

introducing share’d stories

During the pandemic, it’s sometimes been hard to imagine how to move forward. However, SHARE members have worked straight on through, with diligence, teamwork, and compassion. We’ve been highlighting that work on the SHARE blog. Now we’re happy to announce that we’re collecting up those experience in a new online gallery, “SHARE’D Stories.”

SHARE your story

The gallery is growing, and we want to include you. Our stories connect us, and they make our union strong. You can share yours by starting with the link below:

We’re glad to see a recent increase in awareness in the popular media about expertise of healthcare workers and the challenges of working on the front line. Those reports are great, but they often overlook the various roles that people perform in hospitals. Over 2800 SHARE members fill 170 different job titles, and each of us has experiences to tell about. We hope you’ll enjoy, be moved by, learn from, and share these stories.

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please note: The SHARE office phone has not been working properly this week. We think it’s fixed now. But, if you are unable to leave a message, contact the SHARE organizing staff via share.comment@theshareunion.org, or contact an organizer directly. Thank you for understanding.

Member Spotlight: Jason Trenkle, Administrative Tech

Jason Trenkle

Administrative Tech & SHARE Executive Board Member, Marlborough Emergency Department, 4/29/20

Jason Trenkle with Marlboro Hospital’s SHARE Signature Poster

We were in a really good place at the start of this. We were able to get a lot of people trained and up to speed and everyone was very flexible. I'm sure we all experienced the same machine gun fire of new protocols that kept coming at us. We'd be told one thing, then five seconds later we'd be told something else. That seemed to get people together quickly. I'm proud of how we've been able to handle this so far. 

The honeymoon period of over-staffing, over-training and lots of info has slowed, though, as patient-load has kicked up. People are ever so-slightly clipped, trying to get a lot done and trying to stay focused. Anytime I've had a negative experience though, I can look back on it and understand where it was coming from. Sometimes, I pass people in the hall and am surprised when they seem frustrated with me out of nowhere. Then I remember that they're up to their necks in work, too, and maybe I was being a little too cheery for that moment. Now, I'm trying to be more focused and read the situation better. People are strained and I know it's not personal when we get short with each other. 

Other times, I've felt helpless. The other day, everything was slow and we were all pretty relaxed until noon came and patients started pouring in on both ends. All the sudden, we were intubating two people at once, and we didn't have everything we needed. People were really frustrated, so I tried to focus on what was needed two steps down and make it easier for the staff. I try to focus the best I can, despite the tension. 

One of the most memorable moments so far is one of the first intubations I was present for. I was outside the door being a gofer and testing all of our new techniques. It was stressful trying to get an old baby monitor with a grainy image to work properly to help people outside the room interact with people inside the room. It's a hard wooden door, there are tons of PPE and hoods, It's hard to communicate through all of that, but we're trying to limit exposure as much as possible. During that first intubation of a COVID-19 patient, it was like, 'OK, this is happening. Ready. Set. Go.' People jumped into it, muttering to themselves all the steps, trying to get it right. And I'm trying to get everyone to doff and don everything properly. The docs are so practiced but sometimes they forget. I try to take care of all if it, but it's hard not to be on edge just to do very simple things. I'm trying to be as efficient as possible but I realize sometimes that I'm taking longer because I'm rushing. I tell myself, 'Just take a breath and see a couple steps ahead. I need to do this, so I can do that.'

The hardest part is that you're never really ready for it. Maybe that's just the ER. We go from zero to one hundred. The day will start off slow and then lunch hits and there's six more patients than when I left half an hour ago. It can turn on a dime and you need to be able to perform at your peak and get everything done and then all the sudden 3 o'clock comes. I don't feel done, but, I've got to go home. I've got to get outta here. The next shift is here. Then I'm heading home and trying to come down, but it's not always that easy. My husband works 9a-5p and lives off of the news. He turns it on as soon as he gets home. It's always stories from other hospitals where it's just dire. When there are touching stories, I try not to weep like a baby. I try to take myself out of the moment for a while. I just look out the window and focus on my breathing. I'm trying to be strong for my family and not put too much on them. I'm trying to be strong for my husband, so that he's not too stressed out. Sometimes it's hard. After four days on, I really get tired and my defenses fall. I feel guilty about that though. So many people are working many more hours than that. I know of a nurse who was hired to work in New York City for 80+ hours a week. It makes me feel silly to say I'm burned out and emotionally pushed. I guess there are a lot of mountains and valleys. I find comfort in being able to go to work and focus on the here and now. But, when I go home I worry about the global scale of this. I worry about the implications, not just financially, but what its going to do to our culture. I worry about all kinds of things that could morph from this. I'm ready to get back to my normal life. I also feel guilty for wanting that, but I want to play soccer with my friends. I want to be able to play pick-up games at the park.

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I feel grateful for my mornings though. I get in it's 6:45 a.m. when the town hasn't really woken up yet. There usually aren't that many patients and we all get a moment to commiserate about the day before over a cup of coffee. For a moment, it feels normal. Even through the rest of the shift feels totally bonkers and the outside world feels completely different. It feels like our jobs haven't changed, there's just a ton of new protocol. It feels still and it's nice. I'm grateful that even though the world has changed that that part of the day is totally the same.

SHARE Member Spotlight: Annette Machunsky, Specialty A/R Coordinator

ANNETTE MACHUNSKY

SPECIALTY A/R COORDINATOR & SHARE Representative, 306 BELMONT ST, 4/28/20 

When this all started, most of the rest of my co-workers got sent to work from home for social distancing. Our department of over thirty people shrank to two of us in the department in our building. Only Mary and I kept working here on-site. I focused on the attorney letters. 

Annette with Jaycie, Buffie, Angela, Valerie, and Tyler

Eventually, Mary went to work from home, too, and I was left to myself. The whole team was back home generating paperwork, and checking-in with me to see what was happening with their work. I had to handle all the physical stuff for the department, printing things out.  

It was hard. Printers were broken. I worked with that. I spent all day walking from one end of the building to the other and back. I did miles of steps.  

I’m a hard worker. I take real pride in what I do. So when my manager asked why things weren’t getting done, I needed windshield wipers to handle the tears. “It’s just printing,” she said. But it wasn’t. I can do most anything, and I know it. I definitely didn’t want to seem weak. 

But I’m very vocal. My manager came back into the building to work at it, too, and so did my supervisor. Even the three of us barely made a dent. It takes a village.  

Now things are turned around. Seeing I.S. come in was amazing. Angela has taken over the work I was originally doing. Anna and Katie came back into the department for a couple of days to help catch up. Buffie and I are still working at it together. In the end, probably twenty full boxes of paper got printed. The scanning team -- Tyler and Jaycie – they’ve been doing all of their own work, and then some.  

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Our Director made a good point: the payors are now pushing out deadlines, but we haven’t missed a beat, and we’re catching up to make sure that our hospital gets paid every penny for the care we give. We need it to survive. Everybody’s working together to bring the money in. It was great to hear Eric Dickson thank the finance team in the Townhall meeting last week. 

I want to give every person a shout out. There’s no “I” in “team.” My favorite thing is all of the positivity. Valerie works in Pre-Billing, and her humor gets me through the day. There aren’t many of us here on-site, but the team lines are blurring. We’re like a family. I don’t feel alone. Everyone is helping everyone else. I’m never going to be a nail that you’re going to hammer down, but being in SHARE helps me be up front. Being a SHARE Rep gives me more ways to help others.

SHARE Member Spotlight: Cathy Conway, Financial Counselor

Cathy Conway

Financial Counselor, 306 Belmont St, 4/28/20

Mabelle, Sandra, and Cathy

Several weeks ago, Financial Counselors, department leadership and SHARE organizers joined on a WebEx to discuss next steps for determining who would work from home and who would continue to work on site in order to make sure that patients were signing up for health insurance through the pandemic. It was the second time in several weeks that management had pulled the staff together to explain what was going on and to present the staff with choices about where they wanted to work. 

"We've always been essential. But this time, it felt different. By giving us a choice, they were saying us, 'You're essential, but how do you feel?'‘“Cathy's worked at UMass for twenty-seven years, and the conversations the department's had during the pandemic have made her feel more valued than ever.

"Management jumped through hoops in order to get us the equipment to work from home and operate the call center from home. They went out on a limb for us. Mass Health has worked with us, too. We have more flexibility in how we process paperwork. That helps us to do our jobs. We have to make sure the patents are comfortable, and that their bills are paid, but we have to make sure the hospital is being paid, too."

Cathy is one of the staff who chose to work onsite, which her co-workers are really grateful for so that those of them who are immuno-compromised can continue to work from home a bit longer. 

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"Am I afraid? Not really. We do as much through the phones as we can. We still go into patient's rooms. We have to wear masks and wash our hands but we still have to help people get health insurance."

For Cathy, another thing that's felt special is that, "The whole hospital system has pulled together. Everyone's passing out masks, snacks and water. They have two surge-nurses coming around and asking us if we want coffee or tea! Can you imagine? That may be no big deal to some people, but I think it's wonderful. It may be just a little tiny thing, but it feels like we're sticking together. It feels like we're unified. We are proud to be part of this organization!"

SHARE Member Spotlight: Joel Masley, RT

JOEL MASLEY

RESPIRATORY THERAPIST & Executive Board Member, UNIVERSITY CAMPUS, 3/31/20 

Joel with SHARE Union Secretary Deb Clark and organizer Kirk Davis

Things are busy!  In addition to taking care of patients, I’ve been helping get our department’s equipment ready for the surge.  I’ve been working a lot with our new equipment tech, Michael.  He’s awesome.  It’s his second week, we’re really lucky we got him.  We’re staging different parts, vent tubes, stuff to tie tubes, neb bags, stuff like that.  And we’re working on standardizing all our carts in all the different locations where we’re setting up so that they can be used by everyone the same way.  We did a video for critical care nurses to watch on vents, nebs, put a cleaning module together for our people.  We redid a BiPap machine so it can work as a vent, and hooked up a vent that can work on two people at once.  We put those downstairs so people can play around with them now and see how they work.  We’re doing everything we can to get ready for whatever’s coming.

The last couple of weeks have been mentally and physically tiring, but the teamwork has really been exceptional between all the different roles, everyone is overlapping and helping each other.  Everyone’s preparing for the worst case scenario, but really for the most part people are gelling together.  And people are working hard to keep things cheery, too – for the most part people are being really good and generous with each other.  I love the stuff coming in from outside, from people saying thank you. Like today Dunkin brought some stuff in for us, that was great.  It feels like everyone’s pulling together to get the job done and take care of each other, you know?

EBS has been so good, they’re wiping everything down, doing such a thorough job.  They are the real unsung heroes – they are an integral part of keeping us all safe and healthy.  So there’s a whole team of people coming together to accomplish things, getting things done, that’s kind of neat.

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People are nervous about protective gear, about how many vents we’re going to do.  They’re looking at New York, and waiting for the surge is hard – the next two weeks will be the telltale.  But it’s not all doom and gloom, we’re really helping people.  People think getting on a vent is a death sentence, but it’s not.  One person just got extubated today.  We’re seeing people get better now, so that’s a really good feeling, encouraging for what’s coming.

The reassigned staff seem like the ones who are most nervous right now, because they’re not sure what it will be like.  We’ve got like 7 therapists coming up from the pulmonary lab.  Or nurses from the clinics.

The most memorable moment for me from the last couple weeks was watching someone who was getting ruled out, and his wife couldn’t stay with him, she was extremely upset and wanted to be with him, that was tough, kind of an awakening for me.  How would I feel in her position?  That stuck out for me.