Dear Editor: The Health Department Is With You

Dear Editor,

To those of you who have been struggling with the uncertainty of this virus, we have struggled with you. We have struggled with how best to protect our community. We have debated policy and procedures. We have followed the best practices laid out by our country’s and the world’s top health professionals. We have listened to the concerns of our community members. We have tirelessly put together constantly evolving plans that best fit our communities needs and kept us all as safe as possible. And we will continue to fight this virus with you.

To those of you who have suffered through battling this virus, we have suffered with you. We have been in communication with every COVID case that comes into our system in this county. We have checked on these community members frequently and reached out to close contacts. We have tried to help contain this virus in our community. We have heard how this virus has impacted your lives, how it has hit everyone in a different way. Some of you were only mildly ill, others were extremely ill and worried how you would get through it. We have heard the stories of your valiant fight. We hoped and prayed for you. We cheered when you pulled through and made your recovery.

To those of you grieving the loss of loved ones related to this virus, we are grieving with you. We hoped and prayed with you. We were waiting for the good news that never came. We will not forget you or your loved ones. They were our community members, our neighbors, our friends. They will be missed. They are the reason we keep fighting. A reminder of what we are trying to avoid. We keep going to make sure we do not lose any more of our community members, neighbors, and friends.

To those of you missing social gatherings, we are missing them with you. We want life to get back to what it was before more than you know. We do our jobs with a passion so great it keeps us going even when it feels like there is no winning. We also miss our friends and family. We miss concerts and fairs and school events. We miss hugs too.

To those of you wearing your masks in the hopes of slowing the spread, we are wearing them with you. We wear them at work. We wear them at the grocery store. We wear them all day long. We would rather wear a mask and have a chance at slowing the spread and saving a life than not wear one and know we never tried.

To those of you looking at the vaccine with hope for a brighter future, we are hoping with you. We were exuberant when the vaccine arrived in our clinic. We laughed, we cried, we danced. We have been planning and re-planning, adhering to the guidelines presented, but making sure we are moving forward and getting the shots in your arms. We are waiting impatiently to get enough vaccine to get our county vaccinated. We are so happy to see the interest from the community. To those of you who recognize the momentous importance of this vaccine, we appreciate you. We recognize it too. We now join the history books of having lived through a pandemic, and we need to get past it. We see our top healthcare professionals and scientists working tirelessly to find a way to get this virus under control. And now we are at the pivotal point where we can swing the pendulum in our favor.

This is not the time to let up. Let us bring it home and beat this virus.

With hope and wishes of wellness,

Erin Ritchie, RN and Your Jefferson County Health Department