Caring for patients as if they are family
Dr. Hubbard pours his heart into caring for patient with COVID-19 for a reason that hits close to home.
According to one of the nurses there that day, Daniel Hubbard, MD, gave the patient “every fighting chance,” in the emergency department at PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington.
“Dr. Hubbard put his whole heart into caring for a patient who was critically ill with COVID-19,” the nurse shared. “He spoke to our team about the patient’s young family and urged us to keep fighting for her.”
As hope faded, the staff learned that the case was hitting close to home — one of Dr. Hubbard’s own family members was also facing imminent death from COVID-19 elsewhere, far from their own care setting.
Neither the patient nor Dr. Hubbard’s family member had been vaccinated against COVID-19, which made them much more vulnerable to the virus. He was emotionally invested and couldn’t yet give up on the patient in front of him.
When the inevitable happened, “Dr. Hubbard was gracious, confident and heartbroken. He cried with the trauma team, comforted them and prayed with them,” the nurse said.
After the shift, the doctor met the patient’s husband in the ED and together, they grieved their loved ones — needlessly lost to the same cruel disease.
