UT Southwestern honors COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day
On March 4, 2020, the first positive test for COVID-19 was announced in Texas.
Exactly four years after that watershed date, UT Southwestern front-line workers gathered at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital and joined with hospitals around the state to mark the inaugural COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day – a tribute to the sacrifices and teamwork that guided health care workers through the most challenging moments of the pandemic.
“We have emerged stronger in practice and purpose thanks to each of you,” said Jonathan Efron, M.D., Executive Vice President for Health System Affairs, speaking directly to the audience of UTSW health care professionals.
He recalled the wave of emotions that dominated those early days of the pandemic – fear, anxiety, pressure, and uncertainty. But front-line workers fought through those feelings, he said, “to get the job done.”
Rachel Butterfield, RN, who was in the audience, recalled working in the Medical Intensive Care Unit when the first patients with COVID-19 arrived at Clements University Hospital (CUH).
“Everyone was so sick, and we were trying new ways to treat our patients,” she said. “I spent days and weeks talking to their families on the phone.”
As challenging as those early months were, hope came on Dec. 15, 2020, when the initial supply of COVID-19 vaccines arrived. A video tribute reminded the audience of the defining moment when the first vaccines were delivered.
“This whole experience has been uplifting because I have really seen people come together to work for one common cause, and this is just gratifying.”
— Mamta Jain, M.D., Ph.D.
The COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day was established by the Texas Legislature last year to recognize the dedication of Emergency Medicine faculty and staff, nurses, ICU teams, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, lab technicians, advanced practice providers, first responders, infectious disease experts, hospitalists, and others. It also memorializes the almost 95,000 Texans who lost their lives to COVID-19, Dr. Efron said.
“Let’s please take a moment of silence to honor their memory,” he said. “and let it fuel our continued commitment to providing the very best care and outcomes possible.”
Following that tribute, State Rep. Venton Jones spoke and shared that during the pandemic, health care workers emerged as beacons of hope.
“They sacrificed so much,” he said. “They were nothing short of heroic.”
UT Southwestern patient Sam Self appeared via a taped video to thank the care teams that saved his life. He was in the CUH ICU from July 26 to Aug. 14, 2021.
“Everyone was wonderful to me,” he said. “I was extremely sick, but I couldn’t have had better care.”
The celebration ended with a video from UT Southwestern’s 2021 Leaders in Clinical Excellence Awards ceremony highlighting the COVID-19 Response Team’s dedication, adaptability, and self-sacrifice. It captured the extraordinary levels of collaboration and compassion that helped see so many of the Medical Center’s patients and providers through the early days of the pandemic.
“We were all in it to give more of ourselves than we thought was possible,” said Catherine Chen, M.D., Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. “I think it will forever be the proudest year of my life.”