Make no mistake, people are resilient. We adapt to the changing world around us, as difficult as it may be to do so. Never before has humanity been challenged en masse as it has been since 2020 began. The new decade was toasted and people cheered as the promise of change was ushered in. Little did we know how much change was ahead.
Now, months later, with the wrath of the novel coronavirus still raging, we’ve been forced to adapt. It is in these challenging times that we need heroes more than ever before. What was ordinary is now extraordinary given the substantial risks to our personal health, income, and families. These challenges affect individuals not only at the heart of the crisis but ripple into the lives of many others.
Weeks ago, the leadership team at InRhythm began asking our colleagues how they were feeling and what their concerns were. We weren’t asking in a perfunctory way; we were genuinely interested in checking in with our employees with the intention of listening deeply. Many of our colleagues shared stories that humbled us, sharing concerns about the well-being of their family members and friends. Some of the InRhythm family’s spouses, siblings, and close friends are facing unimaginable hardships day after day. Some of us are close to healthcare workers tending to patients who are dying alone while living in their garages or away from their family to minimize the risk of their loved ones’ exposure to the virus. It’s difficult to imagine unless you’re walking in their shoes.
Healthcare workers are not the only ones challenged physically and emotionally. Our extended community of friends and family at InRhythm includes numerous essential workers such as grocery staff, truck drivers, and other critical members of the supply chain. They too must face no-win decisions, working to support their families despite how great the risks are for contracting COVID-19. In these challenging times, tasks, and jobs that previously seemed ordinary have shifted to becoming extraordinary. Essential workers and their loved ones also deserve our gratitude, our compassion, and our support.
At InRhythm, we are lucky compared to other companies and industries. We’ve continued to work and do so safely from the comfort of our own homes, albeit not without interruption but these distractions by our loved ones bring new joys to our “workplace”. There is a lot to be grateful for, so while the leadership team and I are working to stay in tune with the fears and concerns in the InRhythm family, we decided to roll out a Gratitude Our Heroes event to show our appreciation to the people working to keep us safe and healthy. To have so many terrific people doing great work to curb the virus and help people continue to live to enjoy life in the extended InRhythm family is an honor.
Our Heroes
- Alex is a first responder down in Arlington, VA running toward danger while others may be running away from it.
- Annie is a Child Life Specialist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital working with children and their families to keep them feeling safe through this difficult time.
- Arjun is a Surgery Resident at one of Brooklyn’s busiest COVID hospitals, working tirelessly with limited resources to save New Yorkers’ lives.
- Binky is a Nurse Manager for the Cardiothoracic ICU at Lenox Hill Hospital, responding to the pandemic head-on, working tirelessly triaging patients, and even picking up extra shifts to help with the unwavering demand.
- Emily is a Registered Dietician working in a dialysis unit, treating patients who are especially vulnerable to the virus.
- Jinkle works as a nurse in Silver Spring, MD, caring for many COVID-19 patients.
- Ihonny is an OBGYN in the Dominican Republic continuing to see patients and providing virtual visits sometimes at no cost despite fewer resources.
- Katherine is a Nurse Practitioner currently on maternity leave and at her parents since COVID-19 is transmissible via birth and her husband tested positive for the disease; still, she’s using this time raising money for masks for front liners.
- Lourdes is the Chief of Pharmacy at a large medical facility in Uruguay who stepped back into a full-time role, with phone calls around the clock, after nearing retirement and working a part-time schedule.
- Megan V. passed away. We donated to the New York Public Library on her behalf due to her love for education and learning.
- Megan Y. is a Public Health Nurse in Hopewell Township, NJ, on call throughout the entirety of the week, reporting and following up on new cases coming in every day, contact tracing, and advising individuals of the next steps to best alleviate the virus
- Shirina is a full-time scribe at CityMD, treating hundreds of people daily.
2020 will go down as a challenging year, but we should all learn from this experience, become more aware and sensitive to the challenges of others, and uphold our compassion and support for each other even after the pandemic retreats.
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