AROUND CAMPUS
Cynthia Lee, DNP, gives the “grand tour” of the small walk-up COVID-19 testing site across the street for the University Health Center. Lee helped lead two mass testing events at the end of the fall and beginning of the spring semesters and says she’s tested more than 5,000 students, faculty, staff and members of the community total in the past year.
Health Center pharmacy manager Katie Trotta, office manager Tammy Matthews and a bevy of professors and health science graduate students have manned the Health Center and set up a drive-through testing site before those became commonplace in North Carolina. In November, the team set up a site in the Oscar N. Harris Student Union and tested nearly 1,000 students before they left for winter break. In January, they tested every student upon their return. The result? Since August of last year, Campbell has endured just one pause in on-campus learning — in late September — and the athletics program has returned nearly full schedules this spring. With mass vaccinations and the country’s steady climb toward “herd immunity,” Campbell looks to come out on the other side of the pandemic more fortunate than other colleges and universities, many of which had to close their campuses nearly an entire year. Lee says she’s been working her entire career toward this moment. She was a junior at the University of North Carolina when she first took an interest in a career in the medical field. She was asked to help take care of a sick uncle
10 SPRING 2021
the summer after her graduation, and it was that experience that guided her toward the nursing field. She earned her master’s degree in 2001 and returned to UNC 12 years later to work toward her doctorate. Before Campbell, she worked 19 years as a family nurse practitioner at Dunn-Erwin Medical Center. Over the past 12 months, Lee has been the definition of a frontline worker. She’s come into close contact with everybody she’s tested, but she’s trusted her PPE — N95 masks, shields, gloves, protective gowns and more — and says she’s never felt at-risk. She was among the first in Harnett County to receive the COVID-19 vaccine; her first shot on Dec. 29 and the second dose on Jan. 19. The “shed” may be small and quiet, but Lee is comfortable there. She’s less worried about her surroundings and more focused on her job and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the Campbell community. “I just know that I’m supposed to be looking after people in my career,” she says. “That’s my calling in life.” BILLY LIGGETT
