Longview Regional Medical Center reflects on resilience during pandemic, progress made going into 2022

Published 5:45 am Friday, January 21, 2022

A resilient team of nurses and physicians are what has kept a Longview hospital standing strong and united as the world enters the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Physicians, staff and nurses at Longview Regional Medical Center came up with creative innovations on what got them through the global health crisis of our lifetime. From Year 1 to now, LRMC continues to grow from the lessons learned throughout the pandemic.  

The pandemic presented many challenges for the hospital, beginning with day-to-day procedures and normal processes. A spokesperson for the hospital said those challenges became opportunities for stronger unity across the hospital’s physicians and staff, including enhanced communication and additional support for employees that ultimately strengthened the team.

Quickly but effectively, Longview Regional Medical Center CEO Steve Gordon said the hospital had to figure out how to manage large volumes of sick patients and how to persevere through staffing, supply chains and capacity challenges, much like hospitals across the country.

According to Gordon, visitor restriction was an unforeseen challenge. Ultimately, it brought about creative methods to allow family members to see their loved ones who were in the hospital. 

As hospital staff regularly enjoy and need family engagement to further their patients’ healing process, the hospital’s team members stepped up to the role and provided comfort. Communication with family from care providers became more critical and staff constantly provided updates to families who could not safely be at their patients’ bedside.

This meant more family members received assurance but it also placed more responsibility on the hospital’s caregivers. Gordon said he was proud of caregivers who adapted to the new dynamic with grace and compassion.

Prepared for the unexpected

The mental component of the pandemic was perhaps the most unforeseen hurdle hospitals had to overcome.

“The longevity and intensity of the pandemic and its emotional impact, not just on our caregivers and patients but on the community as a whole, was another unique hurdle to contend with,” Gordon said.

Hospitals constantly go through emergency management training for weather disasters, utility interruption, mass casualty events and other urgent situations, which prepared the hospital’s care team for challenges presented by COVID. They were ready for the unexpected.

“The length of time we’ve now faced (the pandemic) has made this challenge unique from the typical emergency situations we face. Most of these scenarios have a very limited timespan, so the intensity of effort is contained to a several week period at worst,” Gordon said.

Providing support

One thing Longview Regional Medical Center did in support of its employees was including in-house counseling services, which were routinely provided for any areas in need of additional support.

“Throughout this entire pandemic, we remain focused on maintaining the mental well-being of our staff, which has required new techniques from hospital leaders. We value the mental health and wellbeing of our team at all times, especially surrounding an ongoing pandemic. Our hospital maintains contracts and relationships with mental health providers to help staff through incidents,” LRMC said in a statement. “Mental health specialists directly visit the hospital on a regular basis, so that staff and resources are on hand to help them navigate the emotional and mental challenges of the pandemic.”

Gordon added there were several initiatives instituted, including access to a 24-hour emotional support line and a counselor onsite to visit with staff routinely. The hospital also made efforts to recognize their team members to prioritize their value.

“Longview Regional’s executive leadership team values and focuses on building a strong wellness culture to ensure clinician well-being through daily leader rounding. Our team views this responsibility as a shared organizational value to help establish and promote clinician wellbeing year round to support our caregivers and help them navigate what they are experiencing,” Gordon said.

Bright moments

The best moments of the pandemic came as the East Texas community showed solidarity and support for local healthcare workers.

“The level of support and caring exhibited by greater Longview was unexpected, humbling and greatly appreciated,” Gordon said.

A Prayer Walk gathered employees and providers of the hospital, family members and members of the community together to pray for the well-being and safety of healthcare heroes, patients and the Longview community. Weekly recognition events were also held that included meals, snacks, sno-cones, ice cream, and many other small tokens to celebrate the resilient care of providers and try to make their days a little brighter.

“Many businesses and individuals supported our healthcare heroes with meals, snacks and notes to lift the spirits of our staff. Many local companies, even while their own business was experiencing challenges from the COVID impact, still cared and felt compelled to provide for our staff,” Gordon said.

According to Gordon, there were also community groups that offered signs and notes to let the staff know they were appreciated. Families of patients, both those that survived and those that lost their battle with COVID, reached out to healthcare workers with food and cards of expressions of gratitude for the staff that cared for their loved one. Schools also sent out handwritten notes of thanks and support that meant a lot to the staff.

“Longview Regional recognizes the changes the pandemic has brought to healthcare and sincerely thanks and appreciates the dedicated healthcare heroes who have stood by us and cared for our patients and team. We also recognize this great community we are privileged to serve, and we thank you for trusting us with your family’s health and wellbeing,” LRMC said in a statement.

There were also many organizations that reached offering their own supplement personal protective equipment supplies or purchased masks and gowns and face shields when they were available. The hospital spokesperson said in some instances that organizations even found ways to manufacture PPE for them.

“We cannot overstate the positive impact that all of these efforts had on our operations, but most importantly the morale of our team members. The heart of our community is tremendous, and we are incredibly proud to be a part of this community and to be entrusted with helping to improve the community’s health and well-being,” Gordon said.