March 2020 marked the start of health workers serving on the frontline during the COVID-19 pandemic. The past year has been an extremely rigorous period for many healthcare workers. At the same time, for many, it has been a rewarding experience in helping to save lives. Kay Kyung Suh Kim (Class of 2021, Biomedical Science) interviewed her father, Sung J Kim, a working physician in internal medicine at Irvine Kaiser Permanente Medical Center. Here he shares his personal experience as a doctor during the pandemic.
What was your initial reaction as a physician to Trump’s declaration of the corona pandemic being a national emergency?
I was a little nervous although I fully expected him to do so. I was nervous because I did not know how much impact COVID-19 would have on our local medical care system. I was praying that what was happening in Italy and New York would not happen here in Southern California. At the same time, I knew that some form of surge would be inevitable.
What were some changes that occurred in the hospital during the pandemic?
It was surprisingly quiet between March and September of 2020. Although I was busy working in the hospital, it was nothing like what I was seeing in the news where patients were dying in huge numbers. However, starting October of 2020 “all hell broke loose,” literally. Hospital beds were filling up with COVID-19 patients to the point where we no longer had enough beds to accommodate all the patients in the ICU. The hospital had to expand its ICU units into other parts of the hospital such as the recovery unit in Operating Room units. We were running low on resources such as ventilators. I specifically remember an incident during the surge in late December when one of the respiratory therapists told me during morning rounds that we now had only one ventilator available in the entire hospital. I had chills running through my spine hearing that. We were discussing how we might have to triage patients and only use the limited resources to the patients with higher chances of survival and let other patients too ill to survive COVID-19 pass away without receiving treatment. (Thank God we never had to implement the plan!) Our hospital had to stop allowing visitors as well. This meant that many family members were saying goodbye to their loved ones dying in the hospital on iPads rather than visiting them in person. Because of the overwhelming number of COVID-19 patients, doctors who normally would not work in the hospital or would not take care of medical patients––such as orthopedic surgeons, pathologists, radiologists, etc.––were pulled in to care for COVID-19 patients. Systems were implemented where hospitalists and ICU doctors, who are most familiar with caring for COVID-19 patients, would educate other specialists in proper care. Almost all elective surgeries were cancelled. Also, most of the clinic visits were converted to either telephone or video visits. During the pandemic, hospitals and clinics essentially had to change just about everything involving how to deliver appropriate medical care without placing patients and staff at risk for COVID-19 infection.
Were frontline health workers properly taken care of safely from the start?
Yes. I believe health workers were properly taken care of given the limited knowledge scientists had about the “novel” virus. As we learned more about the coronavirus, hospitals updated their protocols to ensure the safety of the staff. Although PPE (personal protective equipment) supplies were hard to come by in the beginning due to high demand globally, staff were provided with adequate supplies eventually due to a tremendous effort by the healthcare system and the government.
What were some hardships you experienced in the hospital?
I would be lying if I said that stepping into the COVID-19 unit did not scare me. Despite wearing PPEs such as the N95 mask, face shield, and disposable gown, knowing the viral infection rate, I was fearful of catching COVID-19. However, fear for my safety paled in comparison to the despair and sadness I saw in patients and their families. I had to hold back tears as I explained to the children of my patients that both of their parents were going to die from severe COVID-19 pneumonia. It broke my heart to tell them that placing their parents on a life support machine would only cause more suffering and pain without benefit and that we should let them pass away in comfort using medications without heroic measures such as CPR and intubation. Seeing a previously healthy husband and wife with 50+ years of marriage who were enjoying their retirement years die within 1 week of each other without being able to see each other or their children was one of the most horrifying events I experienced during the pandemic. Seeing children struggling to understand and accept harsh reality through video rather than being able to hold their hands and console them in person was truly heartbreaking.
What were some hardships faced at home?
The fear of bringing coronavirus home to my family was continually on my mind during the pandemic. As a healthcare worker, I was constantly exposed to COVID-19 patients. Because of this, whenever I returned from the hospital after seeing these patients, I would remove all my clothing as soon as I stepped into the house and went straight to the bathroom to take a long shower. Other than working around the virus, I don’t think I experienced any hardship that would be much different than non-medical families. Being stuck at home, not visiting elderly parents, and celebrating holidays and birthdays quietly were all part of hardships faced by millions of families throughout the world. I am grateful that none of my family members were infected with coronavirus during the pandemic. I am grateful that COVID-19 cases are significantly reduced since the surge during the months of December 2020 and January 2021, mostly due to the success of the vaccination program.
Note – The Honors Program thanks Dr. Sung J Kim, as well as the numerous other healthcare workers across the world who risked their lives during COVID-19 in order to care for the sick. The program is proud of its current students heading into the healthcare field, many of whom have, in the midst of COVID-19, reaffirmed their commitment to the ministry of healing.