Uncertainty, Frustration, Fear and Hunger
It was been a very emotional week at Beacon. But we’ve kept our doors open and the Beacon light shining brightly for the Staten Islander Community we serve. The COVID-19 statistical count is grim. Over 70,000 have tested positive in New York City alone, with close to 20,000 hospitalized. Statewide the death toll has passed 6,000. The City and its two main suburbs account for 88% of the total cases in the State.
Beacon lunch break courtesy of Cornerstone Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
ICU's, hospitals and their staffs are stretched far beyond the limit. PPE shortages are rampant, staff shifts are long, frenetic and exhausting. It’s like running a marathon –– your legs burning, the finish line still a way’s off and you’re driven to make it. That’s what it’s like for all of us –– medical front-liners, patients and their families. And deep within all of us, there is a great hunger now for something more.
Physical strength and mental tenacity aren’t enough to get to the finish line. But spiritual power can feed our Hunger. Here is an example of what I mean by Hunger.
Recently, the Chief Resident at one of Staten Island’s two hospitals asked me to talk to the staff residents. Many of them were fast approaching total burnout. In our ZOOM call, I saw their real desperation. It shocked me! On-going scarcity off PPEs, caring for the dying all day every day, treating new admits infected with coronavirus without optimum protection. It was all there in their faces.
Then, as I was encouraging these 60 residents from every walk of life, from many different cultures and religions, I heard a voice tell me what they needed from me. I could best help by sharing the Gospel with them. Well, I did just that and it gave them what they were most Hungry for –– trust and hope because God was with them. That alone helped satiate their hunger.
Then, just last week, I saw a patient on a routine follow-up. He needed his blood pressure meds renewed. (Keep in mind that other medical issues don’t go away just because we’re in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.) When we finished the exam, I noticed him looking at me intensely. In that moment God gave a quick “to do.”
So, I said to my patient, “look, you and I have just washed our hands. I just applied hand sanitizer. We are both in good health so let me shake your hand.” He broke into tears as I held his hand. After a moment he said, “ Doctor, I haven't had the chance to touch someone in two weeks. I needed that” He was hungry for human connection and God made sure that I knew to feed him.
Our mission at Beacon is to treat the whole person –– physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Often, spiritually is the game changer.
God bless you and keep praying.
David Kim, MD, MBA (Healthcare)
CEO, Beacon Christian Community Health Center
Staten Island, NY
