Derr proud of health department staff in facing COVID
Holmes County health commissioner Michael Derr said he has been proud of the way his staff has handled a mountain of adversity during the pandemic. While he knows everyone won’t be pleased, he said his staff has gone above and beyond the call of duty.
Protecting a community.
Every county health department must take up that cross and bear it on a daily basis, but in 2020 that cross became heavier as the Holmes County Health Department became instrumental in fending off a virus that has been more dangerous and deadly than anything the county has faced in the past century.
While it has been difficult for Holmes County health commissioner Michael Derr and his staff, Derr said he has been pleased with the way his staff has performed under such circumstances.
While 2020 has been challenging for everyone, it has been especially tough on the health department and frontline workers who experience the ugly results of COVID-19 in a personal way.
COVID-19 has been much like Shakespeare’s’ “Lady Macbeth.” She tried to wash the blood off of her hands after committing a murder, but no matter how hard she scrubbed, she couldn’t remove that “damn spot.” Much like Lady Macbeth, the evils that accompany dealing with COVID-19 are difficult to remove when dealing with it each and every day. Those types of emotional weights are tough to leave at the office.
However, Derr said his staff has been relentless in its pursuit of protecting the community, and now that they have seen some light at the end of the tunnel with the introduction of the first round of Moderna, the COVID-19 vaccine, it is an exciting time that brings with it hope that the threat of this virus will soon be a thing of the past.
“We have never experienced anything like this. It is the most adverse event we have ever had to deal with, and we have such an impressive team that has done an incredible job of dealing with some pretty tough times,” Derr said. “We have also experienced that with so many other entities in the county. Holmes County does such a tremendous job of coming together in crisis and getting through tough times. We’ve proven that again through 2020.”
Derr said the Holmes County Health District staff has been preparing for this moment for some time and said it is thrilling to be able to execute the game plan that took so much detailed and difficult preparation.
“We’ve been training for this since H1N1, and it’s nice that we are able to show our community what we can do with our very small but mighty staff,” Derr said. “These are all frontline heroes, and we often lose sight of the fact that while we don’t get to do that direct frontline care like our hospital or primary-care partners, we are here to take care of our community as well. Our staff is unsung heroes that are staying late, taking calls and calling the 10 contract traces and doing that extra disease investigation to make sure people understand where and how they can go get their COVID-19 test.”
Tara Conner, director of nursing at the health department, said the health department has heard from a variety of county officials who are excited about the opportunity to have the vaccine become available.
“We were excited about providing this for the hospital and frontline workers because we know what kind of stress they have been under,” Conner said.
As for the health department staff, remaining focused on the task at hand of fending off the virus at every turn throughout most of 2020, Conner said she has been impressed with how everyone has stayed on the same page and kept their intentions fully on the task of trying to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Conner said all of the county’s health and safety partners including the hospital, fire and EMS, nursing homes, law-enforcement agencies and others are invited to join in on a weekly teleconference to stay on top of all of the breaking news related to the virus.
“We knew when this virus first began what we might be up against, and I have been impressed with how all of our team here and all of the different partners throughout the community have done a remarkable job of serving the community,” Conner said.
According to Derr, this pandemic won’t subside until the top brass officially say so, and until then, he said his office will remain diligent and relentless in its pursuit of caring and providing for the safety of Holmes County residents and workers.
“That is something we are all committed to, and it is something we have all done to the very best of our ability since the start of this pandemic,” Derr said. “I am so proud of our people and the way they have come together and shown great fortitude, patience and hope in helping to move our county past this virus.”