Alumni on the Frontlines

Alumni on the Frontlines Joni Johnson ('82) helps with local efforts to battle COVID-19

By Natalie Hayden, Director of Advancement the front lines. When COVID-19 started, we were hearing what

What has it been like to work through this pandemic of

was happening in other countries and we started having regular Tell us a little bit about yourself: I am married to Thomas meetings, learning about the virus, the impact it was having, and Sims and have three children, two sons and a daughter, and four talking about how we should begin preparing for the pandemic if grandchildren. Once I finished high school, I went straight into it were to hit the US. Then the ‘if’ it were to hit, quickly changed nursing school at Kentucky Wesleyan College where I graduinto ‘when’ it was going to hit. When COVID-19 got close to ated in 1985 with my Associate Degree in Nursing. I began my Kentucky, the influx of questions and on-the-fly decisions that nursing career at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in 1985, then in needed to be made were overwhelming and to complicate 1986 I was hired to work on a surgical post-op unit at Daviess things, guidelines were changing by the minute. One minute County Hospital (currently known as Owensboro Health Regional we would make a decision and ten minutes later that decision Hospital). In 2005, I graduated from Western Kentucky Univermight be outdated; it was so hard to keep up. Decisions were sity (WKU) with my MBA and in 2013, I obtained my MSN, also changing so quickly mainly because this was a new virus. Nofrom WKU. My nursing background consists of surgical postbody really knew what to expect…all we knew was that it was op, orthopedics, pediatrics, oncology, and behavioral health. At coming, it was rapidly spreading, it was potentially lethal, and Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, I it was totally unpredictable. Through served as Nurse Manager of a surgical all of this whirlwind we were doing the post-op unit for 10 years, followed by best we could to keep our team memDirector of Medical/Surgical Services for 14 years, and currently serve as the "Nursing has been a bers informed but you can imagine how difficult that was with everything Chief Nursing Officer. very rewarding career; changing so quickly. After a few crazy days, our system Chief Medical Officer, Why did you choose healthcare? This might sound corny, but for me I’m glad God sent me Dr. DuFrayne, took the lead and things started to fall into place. We developed healthcare was a calling; I can’t describe a leadership steering committee with it any other way. I remember Christmases when I was young, my sisters might down this path." daily decision-making meetings and daily updates. We opened an operations have asked for a barbie or a baby doll, center for centralized communication. but I wanted medical stuff. One year We put up triage tents outside of our for Christmas I got a visible man and Emergency Department (ED) to reduce woman; one year I got a microscope… Medicine and anatomy potential exposure to those who were not being seen in the ED intrigued me when I was a kid. My dad was a hunter. I would for COVID-19-like symptoms. We developed a surge plan that help him field dress the deer and dissect pretty much anything involved working with our Daviess County Emergency Managehe brought home …doves, squirrel…I thought it was so cool. ment team. We developed a care team structure and education As far back as I can remember, I wanted to work in healthcare. plan for expanding critical care capability beyond our critical When I was a little girl I actually wanted to be a surgeon, but I also care unit. We identified locations and units for where we would had the crazy idea that I wanted to drive a semi-tractor trailer. admit COVID-19 patients. We installed equipment to convert So, I put the two together and decided to be a traveling surgeon additional rooms into negative pressure. We developed processes with a mobile clinic who operated on those less fortunate. But… to minimize the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). We life happens, and our plans don’t always work out the way we implemented telemedicine in the clinics and the capability to intended so instead of becoming a surgeon I decided to become tele-visit with our patients. We relocated units. We even secured a nurse. Nursing has been a very rewarding career; I’m glad God a unit for COVID-19 inmate admissions. In just a couple of weeks sent me down this path. we implemented processes that normally would take months to

years to get up and going!

COVID-19? It has been crazy and so surreal. I am not directly on What training prepared you for this? No one is ever prepared the front lines, but I serve as a support to those who are working for a pandemic. When COVID-19 hit the U.S. and Kentucky, we

were just trying to figure things out as we received new information, daily, and in return disseminate that information to our team members. Before COVID-19, we routinely planned and drilled for physical disasters and emergencies such as tornadoes but planning and drilling for a pandemic wasn’t part of that routine. There are a couple of things that come to mind when I think about your question. Owensboro Health Regional Hospital sends our leadership team to FEMA emergency preparedness training; I’ve actually been twice. It was not fun, in fact, I thought it was miserable. But, the types of drills we ran at FEMA were very similar to what we are seeing with COVID-19. Another thing that comes to mind that prepared us somewhat to handle COVID-19 was preparing for an outbreak of Ebola a few years ago. We had somewhat of a foundation, meaning we had policies and procedures in place that guided us and told us how to handle a patient that came in with an infectious disease that required PPE above and beyond traditional infections. But COVID-19 is different from Ebola, so we had to make some adjustments to those documents and policies.

How’s the morale of your team? The morale of our staff has been incredible. Throughout the entire hospital, all team members’ attitudes and willingness to step up and do whatever it takes to make a difference has really shined through. Bedside nurses have even taken on additional jobs (drawing blood, taking out the trash) to lessen others’ risk of exposure to COVID-19 and in an effort to preserve our PPE supply. Crisis situations like this COVID-19 pandemic remind us of why we went into healthcare in the first place, which is to serve people and to make a difference. Our team members have been AMAZING! Our entire leadership team has pulled together, supported one another, modified processes and made things happen so those on the front line can provide that excellent care we strive to provide each and every day. We want our patients to heal, so they can go home.

You know how the saying goes, find a profession you love, and are passionate about and you will never work a day in your life. This is how I feel. I never mind going into work; I love my job! Owensboro Health has been so good to me throughout my entire career; I have been blessed. It truly is a great place to work.

I have to give a shout out to Zac Roby, who I understand graduated from OCHS in 2003. Zac manages the 44-bed floor we dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients. Zac is a fairly new nurse leader, but I can tell you right now, it wasn’t by chance Zac is where he is today. His critical care background, natural leadership abilities and positive, can-do attitude have been a God send, literally. Zac and his team have, and continue to, define and implement multiple new processes, workflows and policies (ex: responding to a code blue situation while minimizing exposure of team members to COVID-19). Zac is exactly where God intended for him to be during this pandemic. How has the community supported you? The community has been wonderful. So many cloth masks have been sewn by our community members, which has helped mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We’ve had donations of PPE, furniture, and meals provided for our team members. Community support has been demonstrated in so many ways. We’ve had chalk writings of motivational quotes on our sidewalks and parking lots, the community orchestrated a drive-in vigil, first responders (fire, police, EMS) joined together in a drive by parade, the National Guard flew over the hospital, and the Owensboro Public School system buses drove by in parade on their last official day of school. The outpouring of community support we’ve seen makes me very proud!

How has your faith helped you through this time?

I believe that everything that is meant to be will be. We all have a path we are meant to follow. My faith and trust in God are what keeps me going day to day.

Advice to those quarantined at home? Take the virus seriously and please take precautions. Our world has forever changed, some for the better, some not. It may be awkward to mask and look silly but please wear a mask when you go out in public…and hand sanitize A LOT. You may not know someone who has had COVID-19 or maybe you do and they’ve only had mild symptom but remember that there ARE people whose lives have been forever impacted by this disease. Keep them in your prayers.

Any advice for the class of 2020? My heart goes out to the class of 2020 because they are missing out on what most consider memorable senior events (prom, graduation ceremony). Some, like my niece, are forced to extend their college graduation by a full semester because of social distancing requirements stemming from COVID-19. To the Class(es) of 2020…hang in there, this too shall pass. When you are my age, you will look back on this time and will tell your grandkids the stories of how YOUR graduating class was THE class that made history during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Favorite teachers at OCHS? The most influential teacher in terms of my career path has to be Joan Perry. She taught all of the major science classes I took (advanced anatomy, chemistry). She made it fun, memorable, and we learned a lot! Jan Young is another who stands out. She impacted me personally. I just love her. ♠