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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2020
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APPEAL TRIBUNE
Chaplain
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But even as the county and state have
seen the number of cases spike in recent
weeks, he's reassured by friends who
provide direct patient care.
"They've been at it long enough to
know how the virus behaves, and they
respect the limits of what they can and
can't do to treat it," Morse said. "It has
just enough of our attention, but I don't
think people are consumed with worry."
The same wasn't true in March. Sa-
lem Hospital admitted its first COVID-19
patient on March 6, 10 days before Sa-
lem-Keizer Public Schools closed.
'It was white-knuckle time'
The first patient was whisked into an
airborne infection isolation room,
which has a dedicated entrance. The
room provides a negative pressure envi-
ronment designed to isolate and contain
airborne pathogens.
Local healthcare officials knew very
little about the mysterious, pneumonia-
like respiratory virus, other than it had
spread across the globe at a terrifying
speed. But was it as contagious as the
measles or as likely to kill as Ebola? No
one knew.
For most people, COVID-19 causes
mild to moderate symptoms such as fe-
ver and cough. For some, especially
those with pre-existing conditions such
as heart disease, diabetes, lung disease
or weakened immune systems, it can
cause more severe illness and even
death.
On March 23, a 73-year-old woman
died at Salem Hospital, the hospital's
first documented COVID-19 death and
the 10th in Oregon.
Patients die at Salem Hospital all the
time. But this was different.
The virus was unpredictable. Guide-
lines and standards of care were chang-
ing from one day to the next. Personal
protective equipment was in short sup-
ply. Staff worried about taking the virus
home to their families.
"It was white-knuckle time because
we had no script," Morse said.
Isolation adds to fear
Fear and uncertainty were height-
ened for families as the COVID-19 emer-
gency escalated and all visitors to the
hospital were prohibited.
The protocols were agonizing for
those whose loved ones were dying.
Hospital staff arranged virtual visits
via phone calls or video chats, but they
couldn't replace a family member being
bedside. Even Morse was kept out at
that time.
"I think isolation is as much a killer as
COVID itself," Morse said in July after
the hospital made exceptions to the vis-
itor ban. "It was the hardest thing we've
ever watched. All of the reasons we've
got to be in this line of work tell us to be
in that room."
He is one of three chaplains on the
Spiritual Care team and trains volun-
teers to be part of Salem Hospital's "No
One Dies Alone" program. Those volun-
teers, called compassionate compan-
ions, are on call to sit with patients who
are within 48 to 72 hours of dying and
would like someone with them.
COVID-19 prevented them from do-
ing what they volunteered to do. It also
prevented clergy from administering re-
ligious rituals and sacraments in person
instead of through glass or on video.
Morse helped pave the way for the
first Catholic priest to administer sacra-
ments to a dying COVID-19 patient at
Salem Hospital.
Fr. Gary Zerr of Saint Edward Catho-
lic Church in Keizer volunteered and had
to suit up in PPE from head to toe.
The garb made Zerr look more pre-
pared to diffuse a bomb or step foot on
the moon than perform a holy sacra-
ment.
His visit, after which he quarantined
A staff healing room is available for
hospital staff to use at Salem Hospital.
ABIGAIL DOLLINS / STATESMAN JOURNAL
for 14 days, was as important to the staff
as it was to the patient and family.
"It was a morale booster to get that
accomplished," Morse said.
Staff, in some cases, were called on to
comfort patients in their final moments
of life. Proper PPE, to provide the high-
est level of protection, was always a pri-
ority.
Salem Hospital has 96 Controlled
Air-Purifying Respirators, or CAPRs. A
CAPR has a blower that forces air
through filters and into a hood or hel-
met, delivering positive outflow of air at
all times to the wearer.
At one point, Morse put on a CAPR,
gown and gloves to sit with a dying CO-
VID-19 patient, holding her hand, at the
request of the family.
He's not allowed to talk about pa-
tients. As a hospital employee, he's
bound by privacy laws. As a chaplain,
he's bound by confidentiality rules.
Innovation arises from crisis
As the weeks wore on and healthcare
workers became more confident in
treatment and protocols, the hospital
gradually began allowing visitors in
some circumstances — as long as they
met screening criteria.
That's still the protocol today, al-
though if a patient is COVID-19 positive
or pending, the hospital generally does
not allow visitors. The care team can,
however, make case-by-case excep-
tions if they believe there is enough PPE
available, and the visit can be done at
what is considered an acceptable risk
level.
When allowed, it's usually just one
family member, which doesn't always
appease a grieving family.
"How do you balance being empa-
thetic, letting people say goodbye, and
knowing if we let six people in people in,
we've created six more spreaders?"
Morse said. "We're still stewards in
this."
The pandemic forced hospitals na-
tionwide to reinvent care, and Salem
Hospital was no exception.
Doctors quickly learned COVID-19
patients fared better after flipping them
onto their stomachs, allowing oxygen to
more easily flow to their lungs.
Following the lead of a New York hos-
pital, they added extra tubing so IV
poles could be positioned in the hallway
just outside a patient's door. That way, if
a pump alarm went off, a nurse didn't
have to "burn" PPE just to go in and
press a button.
"Innovation comes out of a moment
of crisis," Morse said. "There was all
kinds of ingenuity at work. We looked at
what other places were doing. We found
answers out of necessity."
Masks and handwashing still key
PPE burn rate isn't talked about much
these days. Salem Hospital has ample
supply.
The hospital also is no longer on lock-
down, but still operates with an abun-
dance of caution. Employees such as
Morse continue to preach regular mask
use and proper hand hygiene.
To protect care providers, patients
and the community, Salem Health re-
quires everyone over age 5 to wear hos-
pital-provided masks on hospital prop-
erty.
Hospital employees even wear them
LOCAL
ADVISORS
Member SIPC
when walking through nearby Pringle
Park.
"This is a team sport," Morse said of
wearing a mask. "We all need to agree
we're doing it for the benefit of the oth-
er."
He also shared some handwashing
advice he received.
"Imagine you're about to put in your
contact lenses and you just handled ha-
baneros. That's the kind of thorough-
ness needed," Morse said. "That stayed
with me."
Finding a way to be resilient
The Spiritual Care team has focused
on resiliency, or adapting in the face of
adversity and stress.
If they've learned anything during
the pandemic, it's that staff has to be
able to escape the chaos for their own
mental health, even if only for a few
minutes.
The hospital created sanctuaries for
nurses most impacted by COVID-19. On
one floor, they converted an unused vis-
itor lounge into various stations, includ-
ing one with a yoga mat and another
with watercolor painting supplies.
"I think that made an enormous dif-
ference for them," Morse said. "They've
been champions."
Hospital workers have leaned on him
to talk about not just the stress of their
jobs but how it impacts their families.
Many have worried from Day 1 about
taking the deadly virus home to their
families. But so far, the number of posi-
tive cases connected to the more than
3,000 people who work at the hospital
on a given day has been minuscule.
Salem Hospital is on OHA's most re-
cent weekly list of workplace outbreaks,
meaning it's had at least one employee-
related COVID-19 case in the past 28
days. It's listed as having had 57 cases
between May 27 and Oct. 18. Case
counts include all persons linked to an
outbreak, and so could include employ-
ees' household members or other close
contacts who've tested positive.
'We hoped this would be over'
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Keizer Area
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He removes his black oxfords, which
haven't stepped inside the house since
the pandemic started, and tosses his
clothes directly into the washing ma-
chine.
It's all part of what helps keep him
and his family safe.
Studies have shown COVID-19 to be
detectable on fabric for up to two days,
so taking the extra precaution seems
prudent for someone who risks expo-
sure every day.
Taking extra precautions may help
keep hospital employees and their fam-
ilies safe.
Morse never expected to still be going
to such lengths to protect himself and
his family.
"I think we are in a much better place
than when we started," he said in late
July. "It's just that we hoped this would
be over now."
More than two months later and sev-
en months in, there's still no end in
sight. The ongoing crisis has generated
what Morse refers to as ambiguous
grief, and not just for people who work
in the healthcare industry.
"We don't know the depth of how
much this is going to change us and how
long it's going to go on," he said. "There's
a need to build a resilience bank ac-
count."
Morse has a network of colleagues he
turns to when he needs to make a de-
posit. One of the things he's always talk-
ing to staff about is leaving the work in-
side the hospital.
"The double sliding door of a hospital
is a great place to check your pockets
and make sure you're not taking pa-
tients home," Morse said. "It's too much
of a burden to tell (our families) about
our day, and it's not theirs to hear.
"There are times we have to say, 'It
was a rough day,' and that's the end of
it."
Capi Lynn is the Statesman Journal’s
news columnist. Her column taps into
the heart of this community — its peo-
ple, history and issues. Contact her at
clynn@StatesmanJournal.com or 503-
399-6710, or follow her on Twitter
@CapiLynn and Facebook @CapiL-
ynnSJ.
Morse has a ritual when he gets home
from work.
Fax: 503-399-6706
Salem Area
www.edwardjones.com
Father Gary Zerr, left, of Saint Edwards Catholic Church and RN Mindy Close
before Zerr visits a dying COVID-19 patient at Salem Hospital to perform last
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