Thank you to all of our in-home caregivers

The message below is circulating on social media. While the author is unknown, the experience they share sheds a spotlight on the extraordinary job our in-home caregivers do every day.

Right now, there’s a quiet group of healthcare workers working.

We’re seeing patients when they get out of the hospital, unsure how many potentially positive people they’ve encountered, but we’re there for them.

We’re determining if providing healthcare is allowed during a quarantine for a positive test.

We’re navigating changing policies on how our patients qualify for our services and hoping we can fill in the gaps left by the closures of so many outpatient clinics.

We’re feeling the loss of the elective post-surgical patients we normally see while preparing for the tidal wave sure to happen when those ORs open up again.

We’re politely saying “see you soon” to patients who would rather not have us come to their homes right now while worrying about how they’re going to fare and hoping they don’t end up in the hospitals we’re all working so hard to keep clear.

We’re being counted on to self-monitor daily, which is fine. We’re used to being fairly autonomous.

We’re going out daily, usually being the point person for our household to do all required “out of home” tasks.

We’re trying to be a calm in the storm for our patients who are used to being stuck at home, but now the news is terrifying.

There’s no one cheering outside our buildings because we work everywhere.

We’re home health care, and we’re here now and we’re going to be here when things go back to “normal” and the recovered come home.

I forgot a big one!!!! We’re driving around with full bladders because all of our normal stopping points are closed. #stayhome #staysafe”