HEALTHCARE HEROES CARRY LONG BY DONNA CHRISTOPHER
As Covid-19 patients stream steadily
into hospitals, a pandemic-weary
Long Island can count on its healthcare
heroes who risk their lives on the
front lines daily to help strangers. Some
stand out as winners of the 2021 Bethpage
Best of Long Island contest.
The winners include Medford Volunteer
Ambulance, which won the
title of Best Medical Transportation
Company, and Stony Brook University
Hospital, which won the title of Best
Maternity Ward.
Each of these health organizations
rose to the top in their response to
Covid from the onset and their medical
and supportive personnel displayed
outstanding skills, fortitude and temperament
to save lives.
So, what defines a health care hero?
It’s their teamwork approach not only
for the care of their patients but also to
support one another.
BEST MATERNITY WARD
STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY
HOSPITAL PRESERVES JOY
AND WONDERMENT
OF CHILDBIRTH
Expectant mothers arrive at Stony
Brook University Hospital maternity
ward surrounded by a caring and highly
skilled staff of healthcare professionals
who feel uniquely privileged to experience
the miracle of childbirth with
families.
The hospital has all private rooms
and mothers and babies remain together
as much as possible. Patients arriving
at the hospital are tested for Covid-19.
Patients who test positive are cared for
in negative pressure rooms in labor and
delivery and staff closely monitor for
signs and symptoms.
However, there were a few severe cases
where the patients required a higher
level of care in other areas of the hospital.
Ashley Schuette, a registered nurse
who works in antepartum, labor and
delivery, newborn and postpartum at
Stony Brook University Hospital, shared
the benefits of expectant moms being
able to have the company of a support
person to stay with them throughout
their birth experience, along with a doula
if they want, for labor and delivery.
“Stony Brook did a great job because
the moms were allowed to designate
someone to come with them to
the hospital and stay the entire time,”
she said. “We were great to be able to
do that for our patients.”
Over the past year, some patients
had Covid-19 but were asymptomatic
and others were scared to get sick or
have their babies get sick, she recalled.
To assuage concerns among the expectant
mothers, she tries to educate
them with information available from
the CDC and hospital protocol to keep
them safe, such as the latest guidance
regarding the proper use of personal
protective equipment for deliveries.
Schuette feels privileged to do the
kind of work she does.
“It’s one of the most rewarding
things,” she said. “You get to be a part
of such an instant moment in people’s
lives. You are there the first time they
get to hear their baby cry. It’s incredible.
Some women don’t think they
can get through labor and they do.”
Shavon Bailey is also a nurse in
antepartum, labor and delivery, newborn
nurse, and postpartum. She talked
about helping the mothers feel safe
both before and during their stay at the
hospital.
“Some are nervous about getting
sick,” Bailey said. “We do our best
from answering calls ahead of time and
comfort them when they walk in the
door. We listen to their concerns and
answer questions, letting them know
we are doing our best. We’re all good
at comforting this way because this is
our specialty.”
Bailey was one of the nurses at the
hospital’s first Covid-19 C-section of
a mom who was in the intensive care
Nicole Tahlor and Brian Tahlor with their newborn daughter Briella Nicole, Stony
Brook University Hospital’s first baby of 2021.
Photo Credit: Stony Brook University Hospital
unit, she recalled.
“The mom was well and the baby
was well and didn’t have Covid,” Bailey
said. “We had great leaders that came
up with the procedures and we practiced.
It looked different with all the
PPE and safety but it went very well.”
Labor and delivery nurse Elena
Lecrichia recently gained a better understanding
68 BETHPAGE BEST OF LONG ISLAND 2021 WINNERS GUIDE BESTOFLONGISLAND.COM
of what it is like to deliver
a baby in a pandemic. She gave birth at
Stony Brook in May.
“My coworkers are capable of empathy
and it gave me a personal edge to
the experience,” she recounted.
She was seven months pregnant
when news of Covid-19 hit and vividly
recalls the fear that swept the healthcare
industry.
“It started off slow,” she said. “There
definitely was some fear. We’d hear
about it a little bit then there were more
and more patients coming in with
Covid and you knew this is serious.
This is contagious and no one wanted
to bring that home to their family.”
Being pregnant added some concern
for Lecrichia at work.
“We didn’t know if it would transmit
to the baby,” she said. “The fear was
the unknown. It was hard.”
But she pushed through, and in
fact, worked up until the day before her
baby was born. Her coworkers were
supportive.
“We always wore the PPE and I always
felt safe,” she said. “And they took
the assignments that were riskier, the
patients with Covid.”
She agrees the best way to ease any
concerns for pregnant women arriving
to have their babies is through education
and communication.
“We work hard to normalize the
process,” she said. “Even though it’s
during a pandemic and there’s more
PPE for you it’s still going to be a loving
experience.”
Ashley Schuette, RN in personal protective
equipment.
Photo Credit: Stony Brook University Hospital
Shavon Bailey, RN.
Photo Credit: Stony Brook University Hospital
Nicole Tahlor’s newborn daughter Briella Nicole born on New Year’s Day at Stony
Brook University Hospital.
Photo Credit: Stony Brook University Hospital
/BESTOFLONGISLAND.COM
