REMEMBRANCE
Kious Kelly, RN, Died Due to Lack of Protective Gear
Mount Sinai’s gay assistant nursing manager, 48, mourned by angry colleagues
BY ANDY HUMM
Just fi ve weeks ago — before
all of this —I was sent
by New Alternatives for
Homeless LGBT Youth,
where I’m on the board, to look in
on a client hospitalized in Mount
Sinai who was in terrible pain and
not getting proper care. The nurses
and doctors were pleasant enough,
but they were not giving the young
man the relief he needed as he was
in constant agony and could not
even sip water.
After about fi ve hours of advocacy,
Kious Kelly, the assistant
nursing manager, showed up with
a rainbow pin and a calm, caring
manner and made things happen
for the young man — getting him
pain relief and pulling him back
from the brink of wanting to take
his own life. He was an angel to
this troubled, homeless, African-
American kid.
Several Wednesdays ago, I read
that due to a lack of personal protective
equipment (PPE) — something
that was a problem at Mount
Sinai before all this — Kious was
infected with COVID-19 and died
the day before, March 24.
“Kious didn’t deserve this,” one
nurse told the New York Post. “The
hospital should be held responsible.
The hospital killed him.”
The story says “another nurse
described ‘issues with supplies for
about a year now,’ during which it
got ‘to the point where we had to
hide our own supplies and go to
other units looking for stuff because
even the supply room would
have nothing most of the time.’”
This crisis has exposed that
our profi t-driven, under-funded
“healthcare system” is wholly inadequate
in normal times — and
completely unprepared for what
we are asking doctors and nurses
and other staff to do now. All well
and good for our elected offi cials to
be screaming about the need for
PPE now, but where were they last
month, last year, and all the years
the system was limping along?
Many are appreciating Governor
Andrew Cuomo’s leadership now
Kious Kelly, a 48-year-old Mount Sinai RN, died from the coronavirus.
in this crisis, but Sean Petty, RN,
a pediatric ER nurse at the Jacobi
Medical Center and with the New
York State Nurses Association, told
“Democracy Now” on Wednesday
that “Cuomo is the single most important
person in the drive to close
down hospital beds in the last 20
years.” Petty assailed the Berger
Commission on Health Care Facilities,
which started closing hospitals
and reducing beds under
Governor George Pataki and continued
under Governors David Paterson
and Cuomo. He also attacked
Cuomo’s “two rounds of Medicaid
cuts,” including a $2.5 billion cut
proposed by the governor “in just
the last two weeks.”
We had 73,000 beds in New York
State in 2000, now have 53,000,
and the governor says we need
140,000 in this crisis.
Joanne Loo, RN, posted this on
Facebook about Kious Kelly: “He
used to carry around a thick notepad
holder that hides a box full of
chocolates and candies so he can
FACEBOOK/ KIOUS KELLY
have it handy to give out to miserable/
grumbly nurses and doctors
who are more likely than not
‘hangry.’ He spreads joy and love
exactly like how the world needs it.
He is a nurse hero to the patients
and nurses who he crossed path
with. His death hit home… and it
hurts. The stories of the profound
impact he had made on many of us
will take villages of people to tell.
Kious, I’m glad I spoke my mind
two weekends ago, when we were
fi ghting with you on the weakening
guidelines of PPE. What I told
you holds true, ‘we respect you so
much and we believe you will protect
us.’ As I took on the role as
unit-based council chairperson,
you took time to listen and share
your wisdom. You are the hope
and the strength of 10B, we cannot
thank you enough for all that
we had done. You are a respectable
man — an honorable nurse leader.
We cannot believe you are gone Kious.”
Annie K. Lee, RN posted, “I don’t
want your condolences… I want
actions. We are dying on the frontlines
without any supplies and
equipment! Kious Kelly, a NYC Registered
Nurse, died from COVID19
wearing garbage bags as isolation
gowns so he could still help sick
patients. The life we save tomorrow
may be your parents, your friends,
your child’s, or yours! Contact
Kandy Huang who runs a touch
technology company in Guangzhou,
China to purchase Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE) that
he will ship at cost and that I will
donate to hospitals. In every order,
he provides extra masks and
PPE for FREE. Healthcare providers
NEED surgical masks, N95s,
N99s, isolation gowns, gloves, respirators,
ventilators, and so many
other essentials! Please! If there is
no PPE for providers, there will be
no one to left to save your life, or
the life of your loved ones. Or go to
Gofundme.com this Facebook link
takes you to the page, search PPE,
and donate money to healthcare
communities to buy PPE. Or, if
you bought medical supplies during
the pandemic, GIVE IT to local
hospitals! Stop the hoarding. Give
to get. Buy supplies off of any website,
AMAZON EVEN, and give it to
your nurses and doctors. We can’t
fi ght to save your life, or the ones
you love, without your support.”
In a written statement a Mount
Sinai spokesperson denied that
Kelly’s death was related to lack of
protective gear, but acknowledged
that the hospital faced an impending
shortfall in resources.
“This crisis is straining the resources
of all New York area hospitals,
and while we do — and have
had — enough protective equipment
for our staff, we will all need
more in the weeks ahead,” said
spokesperson Lucia Lee.
Today I’m mourning Kious Jordan
Kelly, a 48-year old gay nurse
manager who died from caring. I
was only with him for 15 minutes,
but it was enough to see his unique
power of healing. An unforgettable
character. Honor his memory by
not letting even one more health
care worker die.
April 9 - April 22, 2 14 020 | GayCityNews.com
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