With teamwork and selflessness, St. Barnabas faced down the pandemic, and is ready to serve – TribLIVE

Like other senior living and nursing homes in the country, St. Barnabas Health System had to quickly react to fight the deadly coronavirus.

What a journey it has been: The health system’s nursing home in Richland Township hasn’t had a new case in more than a year, said Karen Tabacchi, senior vice president of the health system.

St. Barnabas operates three retirement communities, home and hospice care, an outpatient medical center and five assisted-living facilities in Allegheny, Butler and Beaver counties.

“When the pandemic started, we didn’t know how it was spread,” Tabacchi said.

When news of the pandemic emerged in March, the health system closed its facilities. No new admissions and visitors were allowed. Non-medical vendors could not come through the doors and had to deliver supplies to a safe location. Supplies were wiped down. Staff were re-educated on infection control and urged to limit their exposure outside of the home, she said.

St. Barnabas’ first case was detected on March 25 — a nursing home resident who, after a two-week stay at a local hospital, began presenting symptoms, Tabacchi said. The virus spread.

Although the pathways of transmission were not fully known, the health system management suspected the virus traveled through the air.

Once staff discovered how easily the virus spread, Tabacchi separated the residents and brought in air scrubbers, negative pressure machines and other equipment.

“It was the nightmare of all nightmares,” said Dr. William Zillweger, medical director of St. Barnabas. “Every day was an adventure. Ultimately patients’ lives were at stake.”

In an unprecedented situation, no protocol existed.

Zillweger and staff scoured the CDC and Pennsylvania Department of Health websites daily looking for guidance. Infectious disease experts were consulted.

The health system went to great lengths to shore up its buildings and help patients. Zillweger had a friend who worked for a private company in Butler who quickly secured “fancy equipment such as air scrubbers.” Negative pressure units were installed to control the airflow at the facility.

March and April were the most critical months when the health system lost the most patients and residents, he said.

After May when covid-19 cases were dwindling, Zillweger was cautiously optimistic. The health system was still locked down and residents and staff soldiered on.

“It’s unbelievable the people who stepped up,” Zillweger said.

Kennywood Park and the Pittsburgh Pirates donated plastic ponchos to serve as protective gowns for staff. St. Barnabas received cases of snacks donated to the staff by people, he said.

“I tried to keep exposure on the floors to a minimum with virtual appointments with nurses holding the phone for covid patients and not batting an eye. It took teamwork and selflessness,” said Zillweger, who called the staff members “heroes.”

“The staff was not mandated to go into a covid unit — they volunteered,” Tabacchi said.

The facility has many longtime employees with family who live on the St. Barnabas campuses.

“It brings tears to my eyes the staff would sacrifice their health to help our patients,” she said. “It was a great act of love.”

The health systems independent living residents, many of whom are St. Barnabas retirees, stayed calm and helped lead their neighbors through the difficulty of the pandemic, said Douglas Day, a senior vice president at St. Barnabas Health System.

“These people were so poised,” he said. “Given their long lives, these residents didn’t view the pandemic as unprecedented but as historical. Think about what they went through – world wars, polio and the Great Depression.”

Health system representatives visited the independent residents to see how they were doing and to reassure them of their safety.

To prevent isolation, the health system created events and kept facilities operating such as restaurants that still could deliver food directly to residents during the statewide shutdowns and slashed hours of restaurants.

The Health System also instituted Friday Happy Hours that was offered outdoors and virtually as well as organized outdoor walks and other outdoor, virtual events.

“We created an environment that was safely open,” Day said. “We wanted to make sure our retirees and others were not isolated and were safe. I think we worked four times as hard to provide about 10% of the level of activity that was offered before the pandemic.”

Currently, about 95% of residents and patients have been vaccinated and the health system continues to vaccinate on a biweekly basis, according to Tabacchi.

“I want to thank the local community for the outpouring of support,” Tabacchi said. “We received handcrafted masks, food, cleaning supplies, whatever we needed. The Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts all helped out.”

St. Barnabas opened to visitors more than a month ago and opened resident facilities. However, masks are still required. “It gives confidence we are doing the right thing,” Zillweger said. “People can open their doors without fear.”