The phrase “It takes a village” is true about so many things. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is certainly one of them. No one organization can tackle it alone.
Since its inception 121 years ago, Holy Family Memorial (HFM) has been dedicated to the health and wellbeing of its community. That did not waver when the pandemic started, nor has it in the long months since.
In the early days of the pandemic, planning with local public health and other health care entities was at the forefront of activities. While cases were few, emotions and fear ran high. Together with these groups, HFM developed a plan to share accurate information with their community. They engaged local media outlets and provided information to educate the public and offered their staff as the source for honest, accurate local content. HFM also worked with regional organizations to ensure a cohesive continuum of care and message was available throughout northeastern Wisconsin.
HFM also partnered with local health care organizations to offer mass community COVID-19 testing to the public in spring 2020. Since then, HFM has continued to make testing available, adjusting schedules as needed. As volumes in the county are now rising much more rapidly, HFM continues to be fluid in its response.
The challenges of COVID-19 go beyond illness to mental health, children feeling adrift with school changes, the challenges of isolation and more. To help combat these concerns, HFM created “Coping with COVID,” a series of videos designed to help individuals cope with the challenges of our COVID-19 world. The videos are available on the hospital website and social media. They have been shared with local schools to provide support for their families.
COVID-19 also brought challenges to skilled nursing facilities. HFM worked with local facilities to ensure the continuum of care was uninterrupted for their residents, assist with testing when needed, and provide transportation when other local resources were temporarily unavailable.
HFM also provided N95 respirators to Holy Family Convent to help its sponsoring sisters address the emerging needs of COVID-19 within their convent walls.
Recognizing that addressing COVID-19 in Wisconsin has really just begun, HFM will continue to address the COVID needs of the community with God’s guidance.