[Magdalen] Field Hospitals

[Suzie Buchanan]

My bookkeeper, her husband and her mother all tested positive today.  I'm
grateful that I've remained pretty adamant that only one of us is in the
office at any time (myself, parish administrator, bookkeeper)- she and I
worked "together" on Monday looking at some end-of-year things, but I was
working remotely while she was in the office, so was not in physical
proximity to her.

I don't worry about the closeness of the field hospital, but find myself
wondering about the care of the "from away" staff that will need to be
brought in to run it.   I'll be reaching out to find out how we might help
minister to those who are coming to town to care for the ill.  It might end
up being something that is not welcomed by Samaritan's Purse, who I suspect
will think they're fully ministering to all that they bring to town.

But the fact that it was determined that we needed a field hospital here .
. . THAT speaks a whole lot! And concerns me deeply.  I'm so thankful that
my parish has never pushed me to resume any kind of in-person worship.
We've been on recording since March.  Also about 4 or 5 in-person small
(under 20) outdoor services this past summer.



On Fri, Jan 1, 2021 at 7:43 PM Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com> wrote:

> I’m afraid you’re right, Suzie. The Diocese sent us an updated map of
> Virginia this week, and the entire state, except for what looked like two
> small orange counties, is red. No indoor or outdoor church gatherings,
> though we can stream or record services from church with a minimum of
> players. We did that for Christmas Eve, and the congregation appreciated
> it, but it was a lot of work, since we don’t have internet access and had
> to bring in a couple of hot spots. Anyway, we’ll do it every once in
> awhile, but not every week.
>
> Are you at all worried about having the field hospital so close to the
> church?  What a mess we’re in!
>
> Stay safe...
>
> > On Jan 1, 2021, at 7:26 PM, Suzie Buchanan <buchanan.suzie at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > 7 months after taking down their field hospitals from Central Park in
> NYC, Samaritan’s Purse today began to erect a field hospital two blocks
> from my church here in Lenoir NC.   They will help with the overcrowding at
> 5 hospitals in nearby towns from Hickory to Boone - all of which are at
> capacity.
> >
> > 2020 may be behind us, but I fear the beginning of 2021 is going to be
> very very hard.
> >
> > Locally we still hear stories of the Miracle of Hickory from the Polio
> pandemic, summer of 1944.   Wednesday at noon the decision was made that
> they needed to open a hospital for children with polio and admitted first
> patients 54 hours later.  Over 500 children were treated there. I still
> have a survivor of that in my parish.  They had an existing stone building
> to start with but also used many Army tents and brought in personnel from
> across the country.
> >
> > Suz
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
>