Even when I was the only visitor in the entire hospital—as most visits were prohibited during April— I never felt alone. There was always someone there, from the nursing staff to security, providing caring eye contact, encouraging words and most importantly, a smile under their mask. In his novella, Bridge over San Luis Rey, Thorton Wilder wrote, “There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.” The compassion of this hospital’s staff was my bridge through loss to the start of healing.

-- Lisa Martucci-Thibault, whose mother, Ruth Ann Martucci, was among the patients who died at Penn Medicine Princeton Health (PMPH) as a result of Covid-19 complications in April 2020

At first, the fear that struck the staff and community about COVID-19 was immense. I remember how we talked about how horrible it was going to be and our fears of all getting infected. “This is not what I signed up for!” But today, a new norm has settled in. The talk in the hospital has changed to ‘Nice mask, where did you get that?” Not only have I overcome fear of the infection, but I have come to work each day hoping I might make a difference in containing the virus. Mask, shield gloves, gown… just another day in the hospital.

When I began hospital chaplaincy nearly 30 years ago I became aware of a parade of pathogens around me. In each case I realized that there was a chance for fear and stigma to intrude on my experience if I allowed it. In the present days, I hold continually on to what I learned well then. I know that COVID-19 will be overcome by scientific insight and infection control routines, and I also know that fear and stigmatization will be overcome by all of us looking into ourselves, checking such tendencies, and caring for every colleague, as well as every patient.