RICHMOND, Ky. — Hospitalizations in Kentucky are going down.
But the workload in the COVID-19 ICUs continues to mount as health care workers aid in the recovery process to the patients admitted.
For Rick Mullins, it’s no longer a new routine putting on personal protective equipment (PPE).
“Well, at first it used to take a while. But, you know, we've kind of got pretty good at it,” Mullins said.
For more than 15 years, Mullins has spent time practicing physical therapy movements with patients.
“But it takes one to take a minute to get everything on and on correctly,” Mullins said.
One of the medical surge wings at Baptist Health Richmond was transformed into a COVID-19 intensive care unit.
“A lot of the patients that I see are just afraid of dying,” Mullins said.
He said the last eight weeks have been rough especially during the pandemic.
“Most of the patients love when anybody comes in the room because they're stuck in that room for walls 24 hours a day. They can't leave,” Mullins said.
The isolation can take a toll on patients battling COVID-19.
“There's a big difference between if the only thing you ever get touched by is a glove versus actually having human contact,” Mullins said. “You know, our worlds have become so sterilized that people forget the importance of human contact and least people crave that.”
While Kentucky’s COVID-19 positivity rate dropped into single digits for the first time in nearly two months Friday, the virus continues to place a heavy burden on the people providing care.
“The hard part is feeling so helpless when nothing you do is making a difference. And these people just, you just see the fear. You know you see the change in their face and their eyes over the days as the days go on, and you just you see that they're just pure fear in their eyes,” Mullins said as he described what he’s witnessing.
So he and his colleagues grab onto the conversations to spark hope in the hallways.
“We talk about our families to each other, try to find anything that we can talk about that has a positive impact rather than a negative. That used to be really common and easy to do. It's not so much now,” Mullins said.
In recent months, he said he wants people who see him outside the hospital to offer a sliver of respect.
“We don't need a pat on the back or thank you or any of that stuff. Just don't run from us if we've got our scrubs on. Don't treat us like we are the virus,” Mullins said.
As of Monday, Baptist Health Richmond is treating 21 positive COVID-19 patients, three of which are in the ICU.