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Miami Herald

1 Apr, 11 tweets, 7 min read

While Dianne Washington grieves the loss of her son to COVID-19, her husband lies in the hospital battling the same virus.

She calls on her faith to help her through the terrible ordeal.

Unable to be at her husband’s bedside, she talks to him in video chats. #ICUMiami 🧵

@jacksonhealth

In Episode 2 of Inside the COVID Unit, Dr. Andrew Pastewski, the ICU medical director at @jacksonhealth South, sees his staff demonstrate courage in the face of this terrible disease as he tries to save Dianne Washington’s husband Kenneth. #ICUMiami miamiherald.com/news/coronavir…

@JacksonHealth

@JacksonHealth “The whole hospital from the top down … they’ve all just stepped up significantly," Pastewski says. "I was screaming one day, ‘Why do we have all of the nurses taking care of COVID patients? They’re the highest risk.'"

“They volunteered. How do you say no to that?"

@JacksonHealth

@JacksonHealth But Mr. Washington wasn’t getting better, despite all of their efforts.

“The answer at the end of the day is probably this is just COVID and we can’t figure it out yet," Pastewski said. "We don’t know how to handle it and it’s scaring everyone.”

@JacksonHealth

@JacksonHealth “I know the doctors and the nurses are putting their lives on the line for people that they don’t know,” said Mrs. Washington. “So I’m grateful for them because they have families too.”

@JacksonHealth

@JacksonHealth Family members like Elizabeth Valido, wife of Jackson nurse Julio.

“This is taking a toll on my kids. This virus literally broke my family apart. It’s done nothing but just break us apart. And I just want it to end already.”

@JacksonHealth

@JacksonHealth “Inside the COVID Unit episode 2: Heroes” takes you behind the scenes as the pandemic swept across the country and took aim on South Florida.

The remaining episodes will be released each Thursday over the next three weeks.

Watch it here: miamiherald.com/news/coronavir…

@JacksonHealth

@JacksonHealth The series tells the stories of front-line workers, their patients and the families of both. It reveals the sacrifices made and the cost in lives. Even with all the tools of modern medicine, nothing had prepared them for this.

Watch the episodes here: miamiherald.com/news/coronavir…

@JacksonHealth

@JacksonHealth Meet the @JacksonHealth ICU staff, the patients facing COVID-19 in Miami, and the director behind the series that produced this searing portrait of how the people in one small public hospital coped in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. miamiherald.com/news/coronavir…

@JacksonHealth

@JacksonHealth Visual journalist @Reshma416 was granted extraordinary access at Jackson South Medical Center to reveal the sacrifices made by those doctors, nurses and support staff deep inside the battle against a new and deadly disease — and the cost in lives lost. miamiherald.com/news/coronavir…

@JacksonHealth

@JacksonHealth @Reshma416 If you value investigative journalism and storytelling like this, please consider a digital subscription to help support this continued work. account.miamiherald.com/subscribe/crea…

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As an onslaught of patients with the new coronavirus threatened to overwhelm South Florida’s medical system in the Spring of 2020, doctors and nurses at one community hospital in Miami-Dade County did something extraordinary.

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@JacksonHealth

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What does it mean to be a Black Hispanic in Miami?

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It was February 18, 2013.

A 31-year-old FSU grad walked into a small office in the city of Lima, Perú.

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@HeraldOpEd

Today marks the three-year anniversary of the nation's deadliest high school shooting, which killed 17 people and injured 17 more.

The attack forced Florida to change in pivotal ways. Now, the @HeraldOpEd asks: Will the changes last? (THREAD) miamiherald.com/opinion/editor…

@HeraldOpEd

@HeraldOpEd Florida has seen changes in the form of gun control legislation, a nationwide student-led school walkout and a reassessment of school safety that brought action on issues like mental health and armed campus security.

Here's what else has happened since Parkland:

@HeraldOpEd

@HeraldOpEd In 2019, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act was passed, which raised the gun purchase age to 21, created a three-day waiting period and banned bump stocks.

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