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KSMU is dedicated to broadcasting critically important information as our community experiences the COVID-19 pandemic. Below, you'll find our ongoing coverage.

A Doctor Shares Her Pandemic Experience Working Inside a Nursing Home

Courtesy of Sheri Bethmann

Nursing homes have been among the hardest hit places in the pandemic.

Dr. Sheri Bethmann has witnessed that firsthand. She was the medical director and attending physician at the Maranatha Village nursing home and assisted living facilities in north Springfield until earlier this month, after recently stepping down.

“Everyone was just very fearful because we knew that if it hit our building, that it would hit us really, really hard. And so, I think our initial goal was just, ‘How are we going to protect people?’” she said.

Maranatha Village is home to long-term nursing care and assisted living residents. It also provides rehab services and independent living in houses and duplexes on its 100-acre campus.

Bethmann says staff members at Maranatha wear full PPE—that’s personal protective equipment, including N95 masks, face shields, gowns and gloves.  It’s the goal for residents wear face coverings, too—but Bethmann says that can be a challenge in a nursing home.

“We certainly are always asking them to [wear masks] and often redirecting them back to their room and that’s kind of the challenge in a facility. You know, not to mention, they just want to come out of their rooms because it’s hard to be in the same space for a long period of time. But a lot of them have memory problems, and so they’ll forget that they can’t come out of their room or that they should have their mask on. So, it’s a lot of redirecting to try to keep them safe,” she said.

At the time of our interview in early December, Bethmann said about 10 residents had died from COVID-19.  This week, after speaking to her former co-workers, Bethmann says that number has grown. We were unable to connect with current Maranatha administrators to confirm the case counts.

“I would say that most of the ones that we’re losing to it are ones that were very, very debilitated. Several of them were already on hospice to begin with. But obviously, it’s expedited or hastened their passing,” she said.

Bethmann says isolation and loneliness are common in nursing homes right now.  

“It’s been really hard. It makes me pretty emotional to talk about it. It’s been very hard for them. The staff, you know, you kind of become their family. And that’s kind of how it is in a long-term care facility anyway. I mean, we really – most of us don’t do this because it’s easy or because it’s great money. We have a love for these people. So, we’ve certainly seen the effects of COVID even for those who aren’t infected. Weight loss, increased depression and kind of all the things that go along with isolation.”

Staff members try to make things a little easier for residents. They help facilitate FaceTime video chats with residents’ families and accommodate window visits.

Bethmann said Maranatha Village is able to do their own COVID testing in-house. They test staff twice a week and residents once a week.

“Our staff has just gone above and beyond. If somebody’s sick and can’t come in and they’re asked, ‘Will you stay for another eight hours, another twelve hours?’ Most of them, the answer is yes. They’ve really been incredible to step up and do whatever they can to help out,” Bethmann said.

The pandemic takes a toll on the personal lives of nursing home staff, too.

“To me, it’s just kind of come down to talking to everybody that I’m coming into contact with. My husband also works in urgent care, so we’re both in a very high-risk environment. And so we know that the risk of us bringing it home or spreading it to someone else is always there. But, I think that we, being physicians, definitely have felt a very big burden in that we wouldn’t want to expose other people, but obviously, wanting your children to be able to play with kids and to be able to go to school. So we’ve just tried to figure out what works best for our family, which I think that’s what everybody’s had to do. Kind of balancing the mental health aspect along with risk of the disease.”

I asked Bethmann what motivates her to get through the day during such difficult times.

“When it comes to the work that I do, it’s, for whatever reason, I’ve always had a special love for the elderly. So, just knowing that I’m doing my part to try to – if it’s that they want more time in their life, or if they want more quality in their life if their time is short – just knowing that I can be there and do whatever I can to see those wishes met for them, that motivates me. Certainly the things that have allowed me to keep my head above water, for me it’s the things that probably a lot of people are doing. It’s prayer, it’s exercise, it’s trying to fuel my body. Just doing the things I that I can for self-care when I’m outside of that and making sure I have quality time with my family because at the end of the day, they’re the ones that lift me up. They’re the ones that give me the strength to go back in and be able to take care of people. And then my coworkers. We’ve certainly all bonded through this. And so, being able to lean on each other and talk through the difficult times that we’ve had. They have been there from the start and so I think that we’re all kind of getting through it together.”

Dr. Sheri Bethmann, who has been on the front line of this coronavirus pandemic in our community, remains hopeful for the future.

Jessica Gray Balisle, a Springfield native, grew up listening to KSMU. When she's not wrangling operations and compliance issues, she co-hosts live music show Studio Live and produces arts and culture stories. Jessica plays bass in local band the Hook Knives. She and her husband Todd live with their two cats, Ellie and Jean-Ralphio, and way too many house plants.