Submitted photoDr. Lindsey Prewitt, medical director of Anderson Hospitalist Services, makes rounds in the ICU and gives instructions to a nurse who is stationed inside a COVID-19 patient’s room.

They arrive at work and suit up, their faces hidden for hours by protective gear that covers them from head to toe. 

Setting aside their fatigue and fears of infection, each day Meridian’s hospital workers confront the reality of COVID-19, one largely unseen by the healthy, sheltering in place. 

As of Friday, the state health department says the virus has killed 18 of the 268 people infected from Lauderdale County, giving the county the highest total of deaths and the second highest case total in the state. 

The first confirmed COVID-19 patient to receive treatment at Anderson Regional Medical Center was announced a month ago, on March 25.

Anderson’s website shows the number of those hospitalized climbed to 25 people at its highest and has remained in the teens in recent days.  

Dr. Lindsey Prewitt, medical director of Anderson Hospitalist Services, is working six days this week, making rounds to treat COVID-19 patients in the intensive care and critical care units. 

“One of the things that’s most inspiring is seeing all the other people that come to work every day with a pretty good attitude, all things considered, and suit up and go in and take care of people,” Prewitt says. 

At the start of what’s typically a 10-hour shift, she talks to nurses about what happened overnight and decides on the next steps for treatment. 

Prewitt wears booties, a head covering, a mask, a gown, and gloves she will change dozens of times a shift. 

Sometimes, she pulls on a noisy full-body air-purifying suit to conduct telehealth sessions for each patient.

The rounds take longer than normal. 

“I really am surprised at how physically tiring it can be and how of course all the personal protective equipment is hot and the masks are tight and to wear it for one patient is not a big deal, but when you have lots of people who might have that and you wear it all day long … it’s a lot,” she says. 

Prewitt says the hospital has units with negative pressure rooms to exhaust air outside and clear tents that can be set up above a bed to help contain the virus.

Plexiglass boxes form a barrier to protect medical workers during the intubation process, which allows them to place a patient on a ventilator to help with breathing.

According to Prewitt, the symptoms vary – shortness of breath, cough, fever, headaches or gastrointestinal issues – and the patients range in age.

“Most of the people that are being hospitalized are older, but there are some people that are younger, in their 30s and 40s.”

While most do not become critically ill, the virus and how it affects people is unpredictable, she cautions.

“I’ve been surprised to read what I’ve read about people who think it’s not real and that it’s not serious, and it’s disturbing to see,” Prewitt says. “I want everybody just to stay home and not get this disease.”

At Rush Foundation Hospital, charge nurse Erin Mars supervises the emergency department and works four days a week with COVID-19 patients.

She begins her shift with a temperature check and screening and dresses in protective gear. 

Mars says she typically oversees staff, makes sure adequate supplies are stocked, assigns patients and helps doctors. 

Under COVID-19 restrictions, she also helps get information to families who can’t visit regularly. 

“We’re a lot of support for these families who don’t have it, so that’s definitely a little bit more of a role that we’re playing now,” Mars says.

In a 12-hour shift, Mars estimates the medical staff treats 10 to 15 COVID-19 patients.

If she’s the designated COVID-19 isolation nurse that day, she’s likely to see all of them.

“It’s scary, just because you can have some of these patients come in and they seem OK, but they can rapidly go downhill just very quickly,” she says. “It’s very nerve-wracking taking care of the patients, making sure that you’re doing the best that you can for them.”

Some have to be intubated and struggle with fluid buildup, Mars says. 

In end-of-life situations, the hospital allows family members to put on protective equipment and be with loved ones, according to a Rush representative. 

“It’s definitely emotional, I think, because it’s hard to really get a grasp on something you don’t fully understand,” Mars says. “It’s a lot to take on.”

At the end of her shift, Mars washes anything that may have been exposed, isolates her gown and scrubs, sanitizes and changes her clothes and shoes.  

Mars and Prewitt say they’re grateful for their fellow healthcare workers and the community rallying behind them. 

“It’s been a morale booster, I think, for a lot of people,” Mars says. “Even with all the pandemonium of everything that’s going on, it makes you look forward to coming in, and in very stressful times, to help people when they’re in need.”