Doctor describes COVID-19 holiday in the hospital as “emotional catastrophe”

CRANSTON, R.I. (WLNE) – Doctors at Kent Hospital are used to working the holidays, but never during a time like this.

“Working the holiday itself is really what I signed up for, so I’m okay with that. It is difficult that patients aren’t able to see their families, visiting hours are done away with again,” Dr. Mark Salmon at Kent Hospital said.

Dr. Salmon is starting a 7-day work stretch caring for sick COVID-19 patients while staff get ready to open the Cranston field hospital with more than 300 beds.

“We’re currently in the process of identifying patients that we feel would be appropriate for transfer there at some point next week when it opens,” Dr. Salmon said.

He says Kent Hospital is filled to the brink. The hospital is covered with borders and patients continue flowing in. He hopes opening the field hospital will help, but worries if people don’t listen to advice to stay home on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, then even that space could fill up.

“That certainly is a possibility,” Dr. Salmon said. “We’re hoping it doesn’t get to that point. It means being responsible and even though we want to go Black Friday shopping and we want to go to our uncles house or to our grandparents, it’s not necessarily the right thing to do right now.”

He says it’s exhausting for doctors who have been working hard since March caring for sick patients, many who are dying alone.

“When they’re critically ill it becomes even more of an emotional catastrophe. These are the last moments of their life and their family can’t be there.”

While many doctors are physically and mentally drained, they still push through this holiday season and hope others will make sacrifices, too.

“I think at the end of the day we realize just how incredibly privileged we are to have this role and responsibility,” Dr. Salmon said. “I’m just grateful that we are able to do this. While it is frustrating at times there’s nothing in the world I could imagine myself doing.”

The Cranston field hospital will likely act as an acute care hospital and will move non-critical patients. The official opening date has not yet been announced, but will be sometime next week according to Dr. Salmon.