ALUMNI NEWS AND NOTES
Reece, Miller
Worked on the Frontlines of COVID Each year, in a candlelight ceremony, Davis & Elkins College nursing graduates recite “The Florence Nightingale Pledge.” The last line reads, “ … as a ‘missioner of health’ I will dedicate myself to devoted service to human welfare.” For two nursing alumni, that pledge has taken on a deeper and more intense meaning. Christopher Reece ’12 and Jaime Miller ’16 and ’18 are both travel nurses providing care to patients in states where COVID-19 is considered “widespread” by the Centers for Disease Control. Reece completed two assignments New York City hospitals, a setting much different from his more recent worksites close to his home in Marlinton, West Virginia. After graduating as a nurse practitioner in August 2019, he was looking for ways to make the best use of his clinical skills and accepted a position with Krucial Staffing.
From the emergency department to the internal medicine floor, Reece’s 12-hour shifts were filled with caring for patients with multiple ailments. Those who tested positive for COVID-19 were separated in a different area on the floor. Engrossed in his work, his fears began to wane. “You get into a routine, but you have to remember you can never become complacent,” he said. “I’m always wiping down things, constantly washing my hands and I wear a mask with a respirator at work.” After 46 days in New York, he returned to his home in West Virginia with an experience of a lifetime and a bond to a new circle of friends. For Miller, the COVID-19 pandemic was declared after she started her assignment in the emergency department at Yale New Haven Hospital, Saint Raphael Campus in Connecticut. “It was the calm before the storm,” Miller remembers. “Then we started hearing more about COVID-19 and learning CDC protocol on how to treat patients and how to protect ourselves.”
“People who go into health care typically have a good heart and generally want to help people,” Reece said. “I thought this was a good time to see how I could be of help.”
Although there were patients who tested positive for COVID-19, Miller explained that the influx wasn’t nearly comparable to what was happening in larger cities.
On April 1, he arrived in New York not See 2015. knowing what to expect.
“It was a little bit of a shock moment, but I was never scared,” she said. “As a health care provider, this is what you sign up for and we were just doing our jobs. I just feel fortunate that I have a job, that I’m healthy and I can help others.”
Congratulations Autumn Appleby ’15.
“To be honest, initially it was terrifying,” said Reece, who is a husband and father. “COVID is non-discriminatory, so I thought, ‘what if I get this?’ And, I started to think about my own mortality.” On his first day of work, a bus came around to transport Reece and other health care providers from their hotel to the hospital. With trepidation, he climbed aboard and soon realized his new colleagues shared the same worries. memorable trip for all as they explored, mapped and camped in several caves throughout West Virginia and Virginia, stating, “It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.”
1986 In February, when Robin White Rybczynski, Nottingham, Maryland, found out a few D&E friends were going to be in the area, she got busy and organized a couple of gatherings. The first one was Feb. 7 at Blackwall Hitch in Annapolis, Maryland, and then the next weekend, Feb. 15, 30
DAVIS & ELKINS COLLEGE Forward
Christopher Reece ’12
In April, she returned home to Elkins for a week off before her next assignment in Boston and then it was on to Las Vegas, Nevada, for her third assignment. She brought with her the many skills she has learned and is eager to experience new protocols “I praise D&E every day for the faculty and they were at Dragon Hops Brewing in Purcellville, Maryland. Those attending were Greg Marzola, Westminster/Sykesville, Maryland; Joel Weiss ’84, Rockville, Maryland; David Kirby ’83, Collierville, Tennessee; Laura Constantine ’81, Yorktown Heights, New York; Jennifer “Kay” Kirby Jeter ’78, Ridgeville, Delaware; Brian Anderson ’90, Vienna, West Virginia, his son, Max, and daughter, Madeline; Scott Sanders ’93, Joppa, Maryland; Bill ’73 and Nancy Rath Henderson ’73, Catonsville, Maryland; Reggie Owens ’83, Collierville, Tennessee; and H.
Jaime Miller ’16 and ’18
staff who prepared me and gave me confidence as a nurse,” Miller said. “It’s nice to come back home and tell my friends at Davis Medical Center about my experiences because maybe they can incorporate some techniques I learned which could better my community as well.” Craig Hamilton ’81, Bristow, Virginia. Always a great time to get D&E alumni together!
1987 H. Brandt Widdoes Jr., Voorhees, New Jersey, writes some of his fondest lifetime memories are from D&E, the people he met and the beautiful region that is home in Elkins.
1989 David Bekenstein ’89, Reston, Virginia, is the managing director for Core Financial Advisory,
