Caring for Healthcare Workers Is Paramount During a Pandemic

According to healthcare leadership expert Denise R. Williams, the health and safety of the nation’s healthcare workforce should be at the forefront of our concerns during the coronavirus pandemic. Williams is an alumna of Norfolk State University and earned a Master of Health Administration degree from the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University. She has served as President and CEO of several hospitals throughout the United States during her impressive career.

“Hospitals are the first line of defense in caring for those in the community stricken by COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus). In my 25 plus years of experience leading hospitals of various sizes, specialties, and settings, I have known almost all doctors, nurses, therapists, technicians and other healthcare professionals to be consummate in their dedication to serving the most vulnerable of patients. Meanwhile, many in our country are just beginning to realize the indispensable asset hospital staffs have always been to the nation’s good health,” Williams said. “During this pandemic we not only owe them an enormous debt of gratitude, but hospitals’ leaders must do everything possible in providing for the physical, emotional and spiritual well being of these caregivers. Their numbers are finite, and we would not want to imagine how much worse our plight would be if COVID-19 begins depleting the ranks of our essential healthcare professionals.”