“Doctors have told me that they feel alone in this struggle. They don’t feel like anybody cares.”
Rachelle Hampton: Could you tell me more about how this mask drive came about?I definitely can’t take credit for the idea. My friend has a sister who is an ER doctor, and the hospital she works at told all of the doctors that they were responsible for getting their own supplies, so that includes masks and gloves and shoe covers and goggles. They would give you a small stipend, but the problem is they’re not available for sale.
It’s very tricky because we’re trying to help, but we don’t want to put the jobs of any of the doctors that we’re helping on the line. That’s a whole other level of frustration and anger. Instead of absolutely screaming for help on the rooftops, [hospitals] don’t want the bad press. Doctors have told me that they feel alone in this struggle. They don’t feel like anybody cares. I didn’t know this before, but my friend who’s an ER doctor said a lot of emergency room physicians, particularly in California, are independent contractors, which means they don’t work directly for the hospital and they are not on salary. They are hired by a company that is then contracted by the hospital. So these doctors are responsible for their own sick leave, kind of like an Uber driver.
And then on top of that, not having masks or any kind of supplies to stay safe and to keep their patients safe just makes it that much more stressful. The thing that I heard the most was that psychologically, emotionally, it was meaningful that so many people do care about them. It made them feel like they weren’t alone, and that people care about their safety.I think that it’s pretty simple. Again, it’s not sustainable, but any little bit helps.
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