During this critical time for our communities, the Blue Hills Community Health Alliance (CHNA 20), has stayed in touch with our many partner agencies to provide support, guidance and a listening ear. We are inspired by the incredible work that has been done in our region to shift traditional models and provide needed services to residents despite the challenges of the pandemic. We’re pleased to highlight some of the efforts of our partners and friends, and to share their stories of success, hope and inspiration.
“Working at the hospital was really eye-opening for me,” says Karen Peterson, Community Benefits Coordinator for South Shore Health. “When things happen, you see the best and worst of people...I was fortunate to see the best of people. From the many donations we received to the appreciation from patients and visitors, there has been so much positive.”
It’s not a perspective Peterson ever expected to have on the COVID-19 pandemic. When the crisis began, South Shore Health totally reorganized staff hours and roles to support the needs of the community, and Peterson began working all of her hours at the hospital. “I didn’t know what to expect,” she confesses. “As with any restrictions, like visitor restrictions at hospitals, I assumed the response is going to be negative.” But she found just the opposite, noting that visitors and patients were appreciative of all the hospital staff’s efforts to do whatever they could to keep families informed and patients comfortable. She also says she felt that the hospital staff really “rallied around each other,” and received outside support from the community, local police and fire departments who made the effort to show their gratitude. “It shows that when we come together, wonderful things can come out of bad experiences.”
A Giving Community
One of the things Peterson found herself most touched by has been the outpouring of support from the broader community. “The donations were amazing,” she says. “The community really stepped up and gave selflessly. People gave because they wanted to; they weren’t looking for notoriety, or for a picture in the paper, they just wanted to give.”
From individual donations like care baskets and homemade masks to the support of the many local restaurants that provided food for healthcare workers, community support has continued to make a huge difference to those on the front lines of the pandemic. Peterson notes that community partnerships have been a vital resource for South Shore Health, especially in distinct areas like mental health and food security. Resources from Quincy Family Resource Center, Safe Harbor Cohasset, Wellspring, and many others have helped South Shore meet broader social needs for the community, while the health system continued to devote front-line support to fighting COVID-19.
Technology and the Future
Requests for community resources haven’t only spiked in person; they’ve also resulted in a significant increase in usage of the Community Resource Directory on the South Shore Health website, run by the Aunt Bertha platform. “Moving forward, this platform is going to play an integral role in the community for social services support,” Peterson predicts. She also shares that technology has provided other forms of support during the pandemic that could be carried forward into the future.
“Through the Youth Health Connection we were able to offer six weeks of Community Conversations, which featured various experts sharing on topics such as self-care, nutrition, grief and trauma, etc. The series was very well received and well attended. Offering this type of virtual education is absolutely an area we will continue in the future. Many time people are unable to attend an in-person meeting, so a webinar format is a great option to allow them to participate,” she reflects. Peterson adds that Telehealth has also been a valuable option for the health system that can be utilized going forward.
However, she acknowledges that despite the contributions technology has made to South Shore Health’s work during the pandemic, it’s not yet a viable solution for all. “We talk a lot about the social determinants of health and pockets of people who haven’t been reached. We at the Community Benefits department are talking through how to best utilize technology to reach the groups that are not being reached, and trying to figure out where those barriers are.”
Still, the experience of working and adapting through the COVID-19 crisis has proved to be a vital learning opportunity for Peterson and her colleagues at South Shore Health. Now that cases are beginning to decline for the moment, there may be more opportunities to consider how to apply those learnings to the future.
Do you have a success story to share about how your organization has risen to meet the challenges of COVID-19 in the Greater Quincy Metro area? Contact us!