Huntington Hospital Admin On Coronavirus: 'Avoid Gatherings'

HUNTINGTON, NY — Michael B. Grosso, chief medical officer of Huntington Hospital, submitted an editorial to Patch on the coronavirus. Below is Grosso's full, unedited, letter to the editor:

Keeping Christmas in the Time of COVID

"But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time … as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!"

— A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

As of this writing, more than 50 patients afflicted with the novel coronavirus are in beds at
Huntington Hospital and almost 1,000 across Northwell, some of them requiring intensive care
including ventilators. Despite significant and rapid improvements in our care, many of these
people will die.

Those who know Dickens’s story will remember that the ghost of Jacob Marley came to haunt
Scrooge to warn him. Of what? What sin was it that forged the chain that Marley carried in death
as a visible reminder of his spiritual failure in life? It was the sin of uncaring. Only in death did
he come to understand this truth: "Mankind was my business."

During last Spring’s pandemic surge, our nurses and doctors, and many other professionals put
on their armor — their N95s and face shields, their gowns and their gloves — and went into battle
at personal risk every day. Some died for it. At the same time, we felt the love of our
community. The signs, the cheering crowds of neighbors, and all that food. It energized the
staff. It didn’t altogether negate the fatigue, the anxiety, or the sadness at all those lives lost, but
it helped, and we are so very grateful.

Now here we are again. We in health care, like most others in our country, are tired. We see in
the recent release of the first vaccines some light at the end of the tunnel. But we are still very
much in the tunnel and the danger is very real. An old neighbor of mine, a good man, is in the
hospital now, on a ventilator. Two weeks ago, despite being over 90, he was on a ladder putting up Holiday lights. The vaccine came too late for him as it will be too late for thousands of others.

At this time of year, some families do things to help the less fortunate, whether donating to a
clothing drive or working at a soup kitchen. This season, it is literally within the power of every
citizen to save a life. Wear a mask in public. Socially distance. As soon as it is available to
you, get the vaccine. But most especially, for now, avoid gatherings in your homes. Because
doing otherwise will cost some of your neighbors their lives. Yes, this kind of personal sacrifice
actually helps ourselves. But it is mostly about remembering that we are interdependent — fellow
passengers to the grave — and our words and deeds have effects on these brothers and sisters,
for better or worse. This is an idea much older than Dickens and one we need to embrace right
now.

God bless us every one.

Michael B Grosso, MD
Medical Director
Huntington Hospital