Offering comfort, and a hand to hold
Dr. Brett Armstrong is a BayCare Medical Group general surgeon affiliated with St. Joseph’s Hospital-North in Lutz.
During a 43-day period from March to May, Dr. Armstrong had little reason to be in the hospital, as he had no surgeries to perform, as elective surgeries were suspended because of COVID-19. Only those patients deemed immediately medically necessary or emergency patients were coming into the hospital.
In addition, from March 21 to the present, as a precaution and safeguard against COVID-19, few visitors are allowed at the hospital.
Dr. Armstrong took it upon himself to come to St. Joseph’s Hospital-North to visit and sit with patients at various times during those 43 days, a hospital news release said.
Although the hospital uses technology like Skype and Facetime to help patients connect with families, Dr. Armstrong saw patients in the hospital who were without family to visit or hold hands.
He visited with COVID-19 patients, non-COVID patients, seriously ill patients near the end of life, and other hospitalized patients.
“We saw across the country that….people were dying alone,” Dr. Armstrong said, in the release. “As doctors, that is probably the most heartbreaking thing to see. That people would die for this (COVID) or various other reasons with no one with them.”
He thought of the families unable to visit and commended other team members at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North who also did bedside visits.
Tom Garthwaite, St. Joseph’s Hospital-North president, said, “During the initial outbreak, Dr. Armstrong went the extra mile to volunteer to spend time with our COVID-positive patients who had a challenging diagnosis or were faced with an end-of-life situation. This compassionate, selfless act speaks to his character and kindness during our ongoing struggle with this viral pandemic and exemplifies the values of BayCare.”
Surgeries on pause
In anticipation of increased demand, effective July 17, the following AdventHealth West Florida Division hospitals in the greater Tampa Bay area will pause the scheduling of any elective surgeries that require an overnight stay, as long as the procedure can be safely delayed with no risk to the patient.
- AdventHealth Carrollwood
- AdventHealth Dade City
- AdventHealth North Pinellas
- AdventHealth Tampa
- AdventHealth Wesley Chapel
- AdventHealth Zephyrhills
At this time, AdventHealth will continue to perform same-day surgeries and procedures that do not require an overnight stay.
