Oyinkansola is exhausted. The emergency physician at Advocate Aurora Health isn't just overworked because of labor shortages and fellow providers out with COVID-19, she's exhausted by the deaths.
"It is exhausting to speak to somebody the same age as myself, who is going to die," says Oyinkansola, identified only by her first name, in the health system's Voices from the Frontlines videos. "And this is all so preventable."
The 26-hospital system in Illinois and Wisconsin has seen more than 175,000 positive cases since March 2020, with the omicron variant leading to pandemic record numbers of COVID patients admitted to the hospital. In Illinois alone, more than 29,500 people have died from the disease so far, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.
It's got Advocate Aurora and its employees asking for help.
In a series of recently released videos, doctors, nurses, therapists and others deliver the message that the devastation caused by the virus is real, and that vaccination and boosters are what's needed to ease health professionals' burden.
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Katie, a respiratory therapist at Advocate Aurora reminds viewers that the disease is still very serious.
"COVID is not the flu. It is a big deal, it is very real. We see patients that we would think come out of it, they don't end up making it," she says.
"We're risking our lives here, our families here, so we are doing the best we can," says Minhaj, an ICU doctor. "And we just ask that you put some degree of trust in us."
The videos end with the plea from several workers: "Get vaccinated, get your booster."
This story was first published in our sister publication, Crain's Chicago Business.
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