Want to Share a Shining Moment? Add Yours Here

A woman arrived at Brookside with her baby, begging for a “rapid” COVID test. Through her tears, she explained that, while pregnant, she came to Boston in early March to visit a relative, leaving her children and husband overseas in her home country. Three days after her arrival, her home country shut its borders and she couldn’t return home. She delivered her baby over the summer in Boston by herself. She stayed with a relative at first, but mostly was paying for a room for herself and her baby.

Her home country opened its borders and she immediately booked a flight. It requires a COVID test within 72 hours of boarding a flight and then again upon arrival. She thought she bought a test ahead of time at Logan, but when she arrived at Logan that afternoon, she discovered the test was for her home country’s airport and testing at Logan was not possible. She somehow found out about Brookside and was hoping for a rapid test to make her flight that evening. The Brookside testing team jumped into action.

Christin Price, MD, Medical Director of the BWH ACO program, researched rapid antigen tests nearby. However, Mimi Jolliffe, Brookside Executive Director discovered that she needed a PCR test, not an antigen test. Meg Cole, Brookside Nurse Director, called Sankha “Bobby” Basu, MD, Medical Director of Lab Chemistry and Microbiology, who explained we couldn’t rush a sample from Brookside but could perform a rapid test at the BWH ED. Bobby and Meg conference called Michelle Ucci, RN, Professional Development Manager for the COVID Hotline and Results team, to order the test and ensure that she could send a letter immediately upon resulting via Patient Gateway for the flight. Bobby called Jonny McCabe, ED Operations Director, to arrange for the expeditious testing. Tory Hill, Brookside NP, helped the patient set up Patient Gateway while Meg called an Uber to the Brigham ED, she got her test, got back in an Uber, arrived at Logan to learn her flight was delayed by an hour. She got her negative results on Patient Gateway and was able to just make her international flight. She called Meg from the plane and through tears of joy expressed her gratitude that she was on her way to introduce her family to their newborn baby.

Meg Cole, MBA, BSN, RN
Nurse Director, Brookside Community Health Center

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I think I can speak for all of the Norwood PC Team when I say it’s been an eye-opening experience and still ongoing. We closed the practice in March and were instructed to go to FXB to resume our roles not under normal circumstances. We reported, set up, took in the surroundings and began working, of course, on a totally different scale. There were days you felt like a social worker, counselor or a bartender. These are individuals who always listen — sometimes giving advice, understanding and direction, but mainly listening. There were times when patients were calling in just to know that someone was out there for them that cared and would listen. They would cry. You had to be strong and encouraging, holding back your tears. But sometimes as a tear or two slipped, and each of you got quiet and understood. The conversation would come to a close. You rescheduled an appointment into next year as the patient requested because they felt more comfortable, with the hopes we would go back to some sort of normalcy. The “new norm/normal” — words that will go down in history, at least I think so. Employees gained friendships, contacts and friendship families. We keep in touch through an occasional text, work Zoom meeting or now running into someone during phases of the COVID-19 vaccination. I have to say, in closing, I have a mother in an assisted living community whom I was not able to see or hear from for weeks at a time. I was humbled by the employees for their kindness, from a smile under the mask or through their eyes. They asked me daily or weekly, “How’s everything going? How are you? How’s your mom?” Then they just listened and still do.

Sherrie Zenon
Practice Assistant ll, BW-MGH Norwood, Primary Care

2 Responses to “Want to Share a Shining Moment? Add Yours Here”

Meg Cole, MBA, BSN, RN January 5, 2021

A woman arrived at Brookside with her baby, begging for a “rapid” COVID test. Through her tears, she explained that, while pregnant, she came to Boston in early March to visit a relative, leaving her children and husband overseas in her home country. Three days after her arrival, her home country shut its borders and she couldn’t return home. She delivered her baby over the summer in Boston by herself. She stayed with a relative at first, but mostly was paying for a room for herself and her baby.

Her home country opened its borders and she immediately booked a flight. It requires a COVID test within 72 hours of boarding a flight and then again upon arrival. She thought she bought a test ahead of time at Logan, but when she arrived at Logan that afternoon, she discovered the test was for her home country’s airport and testing at Logan was not possible. She somehow found out about Brookside and was hoping for a rapid test to make her flight that evening. The Brookside testing team jumped into action.

Christin Price, MD, Medical Director of the BWH ACO program, researched rapid antigen tests nearby. However, Mimi Jolliffe, Brookside Executive Director discovered that she needed a PCR test, not an antigen test. Meg Cole, Brookside Nurse Director, called Sankha “Bobby” Basu, MD, Medical Director of Lab Chemistry and Microbiology, who explained we couldn’t rush a sample from Brookside but could perform a rapid test at the BWH ED. Bobby and Meg conference called Michelle Ucci, RN, Professional Development Manager for the COVID Hotline and Results team, to order the test and ensure that she could send a letter immediately upon resulting via Patient Gateway for the flight. Bobby called Jonny McCabe, ED Operations Director, to arrange for the expeditious testing. Tory Hill, Brookside NP, helped the patient set up Patient Gateway while Meg called an Uber to the Brigham ED, she got her test, got back in an Uber, arrived at Logan to learn her flight was delayed by an hour. She got her negative results on Patient Gateway and was able to just make her international flight. She called Meg from the plane and through tears of joy expressed her gratitude that she was on her way to introduce her family to their newborn baby.

Meg Cole, MBA, BSN, RN
Nurse Director, Brookside Community Health Center

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Sherrie Zenon January 5, 2021

I think I can speak for all of the Norwood PC Team when I say it’s been an eye-opening experience and still ongoing. We closed the practice in March and were instructed to go to FXB to resume our roles not under normal circumstances. We reported, set up, took in the surroundings and began working, of course, on a totally different scale. There were days you felt like a social worker, counselor or a bartender. These are individuals who always listen — sometimes giving advice, understanding and direction, but mainly listening. There were times when patients were calling in just to know that someone was out there for them that cared and would listen. They would cry. You had to be strong and encouraging, holding back your tears. But sometimes as a tear or two slipped, and each of you got quiet and understood. The conversation would come to a close. You rescheduled an appointment into next year as the patient requested because they felt more comfortable, with the hopes we would go back to some sort of normalcy. The “new norm/normal” — words that will go down in history, at least I think so. Employees gained friendships, contacts and friendship families. We keep in touch through an occasional text, work Zoom meeting or now running into someone during phases of the COVID-19 vaccination. I have to say, in closing, I have a mother in an assisted living community whom I was not able to see or hear from for weeks at a time. I was humbled by the employees for their kindness, from a smile under the mask or through their eyes. They asked me daily or weekly, “How’s everything going? How are you? How’s your mom?” Then they just listened and still do.

Sherrie Zenon
Practice Assistant ll, BW-MGH Norwood, Primary Care

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