Montefi ore doctor pens
COVID-19 book
BY JASON COHEN
In his 30-plus-year career
as a doctor, Robert Meyer had
never witnessed anything
like COVID-19. To process
the trauma, he took notes and
spoke with his cousin, a published
author, about working
on the front lines during a
pandemic.
A year and a half later
those conversations turned
into a book; “Every Minute is
a Day” is set to be released on
Aug. 3.
“I’m proud of what I accomplished,”
Meyer told
the Bronx Times. “We did it
right. We honored people respectfully.”
Meyer, 55, an emergency
room doctor at Jack. D. Weiler
Montefi ore, worked at the
now defunct St. Vincent’s
Hospital in lower Manhattan
during the AIDS epidemic,
but had never seen the devastation,
death and sickness he
did over the past year.
He added that during
the AIDS crisis, he never
once felt scared. But that all
changed with COVID-19.
“Spring of 2020 I was
scared,” he said. “It wasn’t a
matter of if I was going to get
COVID-19, it was a matter of
when.”
Fortunately, Meyer never
contracted the coronavirus,
but some of his colleagues
did. He fi rst realized the magnitude
of the pandemic when
half of his emergency room
was set up for COVID-19 patients.
From late February
through May it was nonstop
madness, he said. The ER
had about 70 COVID patients
a day and trucks were setup
as temporary morgues outside
the hospital as deaths hit
an unprecedented peak overwhelming
city morgues.
In fact, trucks were
parked right near the spot
where Meyer parked his car,
so everyday he would look
over and wonder how many
people would end up there.
“It was March and April,
and it was just insane volume
and sick volume,” he said.
“People were very sick and
dying very fast.”
According to Meyer, on a
normal day — pre-pandemic Dr. Robert Meyer, an emergency room doctor at Jack D. Weiler Montefi ore wrote a book about COVID-19.
DON’T LET SOMEONE
STEAL YOUR HOME.
Criminals prey on unsuspecting homeowners
to illegally transfer property deeds.
Anyone can be a victim. Be on the lookout:
check the status of your property with the
NYC Department of Finance and sign up for alerts
on any changes to your property documents.
Act now to check your deed!
Visit www.nyc.gov/deedfraud
or call 311 for more information.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 36 ULY 30-AUG. 5, 2021 BTR
/deedfraud
/deedfraud