COVID-19: A story of a resident physician on the front lines

I woke up early to work on writing our retrospective review of Roseburg COVID-19 deaths. I was struck by how many people didn’t get the care they needed because of cancelled cancer surgeries/treatment and other postponed appointments for people without COVID-19. Many of these people who didn’t have COVID-19 died because the resources were used up in a reactive way.

Vaccines allow us to be proactive rather than reactive.

I leave you with a quote from one of my COVID-19 patients last week who has since passed away:

“Is it too late for me to get the vaccine, Dr. Kelly?” asked the patient who was on maxed out settings of BiPAP, impending intubation.

“Yes, it’s too late,” I responded.

Gabrielle Kelly, MD, a native Oregonian, grew up in Damascus, Oregon. She is a second-year resident of the Roseburg Family Medicine Residency Program, a partnership between Aviva Health and CHI Mercy Health Mercy Medical Center.