The following op-ed by Robert Earley appeared in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on December 4, 2020.
This year changed us all forever. It changed our world. It even changed our vocabulary. Masks are no longer just for Halloween. Social distancing is required for everyone, even the “huggers,” and “you’re muted” is heard more frequently than hello. Fauci is not a brand of marinara sauce, and a cough is not just a cough anymore.
In 2020 we faced fears we never knew we had, missed out on hugs and birthday cake and cozy dinner dates. I know in my house there were way too many Thanksgiving leftovers and empty seats at the table. For others I know, those empty seats will never be filled again because this terrible virus took away a piece of their hearts forever.
My greatest hope is that the change this year has brought becomes truly transformative for us in the year ahead. What we’ve gone through and all we’ve done must matter.
I have seen an amazing level of courage in the 7,200 people I work with at JPS, who every day put their personal fear second to the need to care for others. But those heroes are still human, with families to care for and groceries to pick up and a life to balance, and they are no more immune than any of us right now.
Cooperation is something for us all to celebrate in a year that has tried to tear us apart
More than 600 of my coworkers have gotten sick, recovered and come back to care for the very next person in need, who may be sick from COVID-19 like they were or something different. These brave caregivers are not just at JPS, but at Baylor, Texas Health Resources, Medical City, Cook Children’s, and Methodist Mansfield, working together to provide this community with a healthcare network that residents should and can be proud of.
That cooperation is something for us all to celebrate in a year that has tried to tear us apart. And what I hope we’ve learned is that we need to care more. The people I work with make caring look easy. It is not. It is really, really hard to care, especially when you are hurting, when something like this virus has beaten down your health, your finances, and maybe even your dreams.
But the way out and the way forward is to care. Care about your neighbor. Care about wearing a mask. Care about those who aren’t getting the food they need, or the ride to work, or the extra hour to sleep. Care without reason or explanation.
We have an infantry of caregivers at JPS and throughout the county who wake up, go to work, don protective gear and never give up. Never. Since March, they have tread into battle combating surge after surge, fighting back a virus that taunts, multiplies and remains elusive, a pandemic that seems long on challenges and short on answers. The caregivers are tired and proud, and they have taught me that even the smallest act of caring never fails to change what’s next for the better.
Prognosticating about 2021 is risky business, but it’s a good bet that the work of caregivers throughout Tarrant County will steer our course, and we as a community can be proud to support their work, their bravery and their humanity. I consider it a blessing to be in healthcare at this time, standing next to the people who will lead us into the new year with hope and health.
Robert Earley is president and chief executive officer of JPS Health Network.