Health & Lifestyle

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Story by Visitor Staff

Besides taking care of the physical needs of COVID-19 patients, nurse Crystal Lubis has the privilege of virtually connecting patients to family members during some of their most intimate moments.

Lubis, who frequently attends Potomac Conference’s Capital Chinese church in Silver Spring, Md., is a bedside nurse in the adult intensive care unit at a hospital in suburban Maryland. A nurse for 12 years, she’s frequently on the dedicated COVID-19 ICU section.

“We’re in survival mode right now and it was really sudden. There wasn’t a whole lot of preparation [before the Covid-19 hit the United States], said Marissa Leslie, M.D., chair of Psychiatry at Adventist HealthCare in the Columbia Union Visitor’s “Coping in the Time of Covid-19 conversation series.

“We heard the news stories and it seemed like it was far away. It seemed like as soon as the schools closed, that is when panic set in,” shared Leslie. “And every few days a new restriction would come for public safety, but we just lost the sense of control and when you lose the sense of control psychologically you try to control something. It may be the kids online school or it may be your husband making dinner. Your body starts to feel tenser.”

Story by Adventist HealthCare

Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center has been working closely with the State of Maryland to coordinate surge capacity to care for COVID-19 patients. This plan includes expanding capacity at both the hospital in White Oak and at the Takoma Park campus of the former Washington Adventist Hospital.  The State of Maryland has approved the following interim plan for the Takoma Park facility: