The Daily - A Nursing Home’s First Day Out of Lockdown

Episode Date: March 26, 2021

The Good Shepherd Nursing Home in West Virginia lifted its coronavirus lockdown in February.For months, residents had been confined to their rooms, unable to mix. But with everybody now vaccinated, it was finally time to see one another again.We share some of the relief and joy about the tip-toe back to normalcy for staff members and residents.Guest: Sarah Mervosh, a national reporter for The New York Times.Sign up here to get The Daily in your inbox each morning. And for an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, subscribe to our newsletter. Background reading: The Good Shepherd Nursing Home, where vaccinations have finished, offers a glimpse at what the other side of the pandemic might look like.Nursing homes, once hot spots of the coronavirus, are far outpacing the rest of the United States in Covid declines.For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

We're kind of rusty. We haven't played all year. Yeah, a little bit rusty. One, two, two for me. How old are you? You don't want to say? Yeah, I'll tell you. 95. 95, okay. You've got a good group here. I thought you was 96. Well, how should you know? I was to your birthday party when you was 95. 95, right. Last year. You it in 96. You didn't have no party. Maybe I'm a hundred. You're a hundred. I'm a hundred. Three? You never know about us. Us old people.

One, roll them. One, roll them. One. From the New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today. When vaccinations began across the U.S., they started at nursing homes, the epicenters of infection and death throughout the pandemic. Now, as those nursing homes begin to emerge from lockdown,

my colleague, Sarah Mirvash, documents what it's like inside one of them in West Virginia. It's Friday, March 26th. I met a woman named Zita Husic, who lives at the Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Wheeling, West Virginia. I'm going to be 96 next month. No, no, you're not. 96. Yeah. I don't believe that. Yes, I am.

I talked to Zita over FaceTime. There was some medical equipment beeping in the background. They always tell me I look younger because I act young and I don't dress like an old lady. And I like to gamble. I'm a gambler. So I was married for 53 years. I waited till I was 30 because I was having a good time and I didn't want to settle down. We didn't have no children.

I didn't have no time for that. So tell me about what life has been like during the virus, during COVID. What has your life been like? We were stuck in our room and we've been just sitting in our rooms. We used to go out in the hall, but then they quit. We wasn't allowed because they didn't want us to be close to one another. So it was pretty boring. Were you eating your meals? It was boring because all I did was sleep and watch TV. What did you watch? Whatever was on, I liked to watch a show, Wedding Gowns, all these older women getting married in white. I was surprised. Well, in my time, you wasn't allowed to get married

in white unless you were supposed to be a virgin. Times have changed, Zita. I don't know what to tell you. They even have children there and they're still dressed in white. All right, Betty Lou. It's your turn. Hi, Betty Lou.

Can you hear me? Yeah, I'm here. Yeah. Can you hear her? Yes. Okay. Okay. I also met Betty Lou Leach.

Born in 24, so you figure it out. Born in 24, okay. Yep. Who was about to turn 97. What has been the hardest part of the last year for you? What's been the hardest part of this whole last year? I think the hardest part is missing your family. I had a rough time at first. My sister was here and she passed away. That

was the hardest time I had. And it's been, I don't know, quite an adjustment. She passed away at the very beginning of this pandemic, didn't she? Yes, she didn't she? Yes, she didn't go through. And you weren't able to go to the funeral? No, I wasn't able to go to the funeral. I'm so sorry. Her sister didn't die of COVID, but because of COVID, she couldn't grieve with her family or even see much of them. And I do miss my daughter so very, very much. much of them. And I do miss my daughter so very, very much. You don't know what it is, how happy it is, and how joyful you are when you do see him. But we talk on maybe two or three times a day, and we always talk every night. We say goodnight to each other every night.

And she calls in the mornings mornings and then we're okay. What are you looking forward to most when things change and you're able to get back to some normalcy next week with activities? Well, for one thing, I'm looking for the dining room to open. I love the dining room. They always have it decorated beautiful. The girls down there took care of it. And you got to see people. And that's important to see people. And I really miss the dining room a lot. And I'll be the first one there.

Thank you so much. And I will hopefully see first one there. Thank you so much. And I will hopefully see you on Monday. All right. Thank you. A few days after I talked to Zuta and Betty Lou, I get in my car and head to West Virginia. So it's a little before 9 a.m. on Monday morning. And I'm here at Good Shepherd Nursing Home and we are about to go inside and hopefully talk to some residents and staffers as they begin to open up for the first time amid the pandemic. They're not doing

visitation so we'll be probably among the only people in there who are not working there. It's cold out here. When I get to Good Shepherd, I get my temperature taken. I get a rapid COVID test. I'm wearing an N95 mask, and they give me PPE. I have goggles and gloves, and that rustling you hear is my gown, PPE.

And they ask me to wear a medical gown over my clothes. And then I go inside. This is the first day in nearly a year that the nursing home is having group activities again. I had planned to start my day in the chapel, where they were having mass. But then, while mass was going on, I heard this commotion happening outside in the hall.

So I sneak outside to see what's happening. Hi, Betty Lou. I'm Sarah from the New York Times. Yes, I talked to you on FaceTime. How are you feeling? I see that you're sitting right in front of the... Oh, it's the most exciting day to be in there. I love it in there. And in the hallway, I find Betty Lou, who is right outside the dining room. She's dressed up, her hair is curled, and she's wearing a bracelet her daughter had given her. She's ready to be the first one inside the dining room doors for lunch. Whoopee!

Yessi, I should have brought my camera down. You should have. We head into the dining room. Alright, you ready? I'm ready if you are. The dining room is decked out for Valentine's Day. It's a formal dining room. There are white tablecloths. There's lots of like red and pink tinsel everywhere. There are heart-shaped center pieces at every table. And there are even some stuffed panda bears who are carrying hearts that say I love you for the occasion. On the menu for the day, cheeseburgers and potato soup.

Employees are walking around, taking orders for coffee and tea. But Betty Lou isn't there for the food or the drinks. She has her eyes on the door. What are you excited about about the dining room today? Just seeing the people here. There's enough. And one by one, people start trickling in. Hey, you're sitting at my table today.

Yeah, I'm here. How about that? Sherry, what would you like? The residents are chatting amongst themselves. You look pretty good today. Oh, thank you. Everyone knows we have really missed today. Oh, thank you. Everyone out, we have really missed this. Oh, everybody has.

And I'm walking around the dining room getting to know people. Yellow earrings. This is Avon. Avon earrings. You get dressed up to come to the dining room. I do. And so does everybody else. Don't let them kid you.

Here today, we're all ecstatic about this because this is the first time we've been down here for like six or eight months. We have not been out of our rooms. Even though most of the residents and staff have been vaccinated, the nursing home is still social distancing. There are two people at a table instead of the usual four. Many people are wearing masks. Still, there's a moment when I see two friends who can't help but reach across the table and grasp each other's hands. As I'm watching this scene unfold,

what stands out to me is the simplicity of it all. It isn't some big emotional reunion, but it's something as simple as saying, how are you, to a friend, or being able to ask, how do you like the soup? These small, ordinary moments of connection that so few of us have had this year. In time, in time.

Everything takes time, but you know what? We're all bouncing back here, buddy. I know, absolutely. Yes, it's wonderful. Seeing all the people. Yes. At one point, I head out into the hallway where I spot an elderly couple talking quietly. He's sitting on a brown couch wearing a bunch of PPE, an N95 mask, a face shield, a gown. She's sitting across from him in a wheelchair.

Excuse me. I'm sorry to interrupt. Though at this point, Good Shepherd is still largely closed to visitors, I had heard that some people had recently gotten special permission to see loved ones inside the nursing home. And because he's wearing so much PPE, I wonder if he's one of those visitors. So I go over to them, and I ask if I can sit down and talk. Let me make sure I have your names. Do you mind sharing with me? Frank and Phyllis Ellis. How do you spell that?

E-L-L-I-S. She's 87 and he's 91. She's been living in the nursing home during the pandemic. He's been at home. And what was that like for you guys being apart all those months and weeks? Not very nice. But we did have the FaceTime. And that, it was still better than nothing.

Frank had been able to see Phyllis a handful of times when COVID cases were low. But it had been a long time since they'd seen each other last. October 20th was our 69th anniversary. And I was visiting her that night. And I bought pot pies from Bob Evans. We sit across the hall and ate. Then the next day, they locked it down. And then finally, just the week before,

Good Shepherd allowed him to come visit again. When you were apart during COVID, was that the longest you'd ever been apart? Oh, yeah. It's hard. What did you miss? Seeing my wife.

Because when we was home, we was always fighting. I miss that. Oh, he's a wonderful man. So you miss fighting with each other? Oh no, we still had it today. What were you fighting about? There's always something, huh? Oh yeah, not fighting, just... She misses seeing the kids and that...

the grandchildren. Yeah, what did you... what have you missed? My family. And being home. That's the biggest thing. I keep saying, why can't I go home? And he keeps saying, Phil, you know why. What was it like when you saw each other for the first time again last week?

Really nice. Getting used to this stuff. I never had to wear this before. That face guard? Yeah, this time they're making you wear them. So, no kissing? No. No, I stay away from her.

I don't want to take a chance on her. Yeah. It's best to just stay away. Now we still have our stats, you know. You have those to keep you going. How long was your visit? An hour. An hour.

Okay, well, I better get going so I can leave you guys alone. Thank you so much for sharing with me. Very nice talking to you. Yeah, nice to talk to you, too. Okay, well I better get going so I can leave you guys alone. Thank you so much for sharing with me. Very nice talking to you. Yeah, nice to talk to you too. Okay, enjoy. Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the penny auction. Is everybody ready to bid? Yeah. At about 2 o'clock, everyone begins to gather for what had been one of the most popular activities before the pandemic, a penny auction. Are you all excited to be back here for the penny auction?

Yeah, right. All of the residents get pennies, which they can use to bid. Ten pennies in a cup. And there's a big table at the front of the room where a bunch of auction items are set up. There are cookies and quilts and a stuffed Snoopy. And all around, residents are spread out in a maze of socially distanced field chairs

betty lou is there hi again and so is zita zita hi sarah from it takes her a second to recognize me because i'm covered in ppe i didn't know who you are well i know you can't recognize me with all this stuff on. And eventually, we get started. The first item up is a handbag with a few things in it. A body spray, a toothbrush, and toothpaste, a lady's deodorant. Then there's a light-up St. Patrick's Day necklace. Oh, that's nice. Thanks. Put it on you. Put it on me. Look at that.

Oh, sweet. I'm with you. Next I have... But the hot ticket item? Who likes cheese balls? We like cheese balls! A giant tub of cheese puffs. And Betty Lou, who's been awfully quiet so far, decides to go all in.

I've been waiting for this. I've been waiting for this. Aw, you enjoyed it. And ends up taking home the prize. I don't give anybody any. So Betty, you spent all your pennies on cheese puffs. Those are good snack. I'm done. Are you happy with your purchase?

Oh, yeah. Thank you all for coming down for the auction today. We're so lucky we got to do this today. Thank you. And as we continue, see you later. Okay, so it's about 4 o'clock, and we've had a really full day so far going to lunch in the dining room and in the penny auction, which was a huge hit. I'm about to call a nurse who worked on the COVID unit but is off today, and so I'm going to try her on her cell phone if she picks up. if she picks up. Hello? Hi, is this Carol? Yes, it is. Hi, Carol. Carol Smay has been at Good Shepherd for almost four years. How hard has this past year been? what has been the hardest part of this past year?

Seeing the fact that these folks have been separated from their families has been very difficult. I feel that a lot of them have declined just because of not being able to see their family. Because of not being able to see their family. So, I mean, there's components to the human life beyond just health care. The nursing home had been mostly spared early on in the pandemic. But it suffered a COVID outbreak in November. Carol took care of those patients. I mean, we had one guy who passed and who, I mean, he's the one that strikes me the most because he was a very positive, upbeat kind of guy. And before the pandemic, he made a point of always getting around to every single unit, talking to everybody, the staff, the residents.

He was always excited about going to dining room, any activity that was occurring. He knew what was going on every single day because he had a lot of physical disabilities, but he had a very clear mind. And I used to tell him he was my hero because in spite of what would appear to have been, in terms of his physical disabilities, be a kind of what you'd say a raw deal. He was always so positive and so upbeat. I say, you're the morale officer of the building when he would come by, you know, because I said, you're always in such a good mood and always so happy. And he's one of the ones that died. Wow. That was very hard. And were you treating him? Oh, that was very hard. And were you treating him?

Yes. I mean, he was in the COVID unit, so yes. It sounds like you were close with him, too. Everybody was. And as the day goes on, I realize there's one person I still need to talk to. And that's Don Kirsch, the administrator of the nursing home. He's the one who gave the orders to shut down last year. And he's also the one who ultimately gave the okay to come out of lockdown.

Okay, I see you wrote this down. So just some thoughts. And as we sit down, he pulls out a statement that he's typed up on a piece of paper. Do you want to just maybe read this for the audio in your own voice? Or read, you know, parts of it? Tragically, we experienced a coronavirus outbreak in November of 2020, infecting 20 residents, resulting in five resident deaths. We are brokenhearted by this loss of life. These individuals and their loved ones are in our thoughts and prayers each day. This is a really, it's been an emotional time

this past year. And so tell me why, you know, when you were talking about what you've been through, you got a little choked up. Tell me more about that. Well, it's, Sarah, it's been the greatest challenge of our careers. And I'm not only speaking for myself, but for all of our staff. Wheeling is such a tight knit community. We know each other. A lot of us have grown up together, and we had the pleasure of taking care of individuals in the time in their lives other than childhood, possibly when they needed others the most. Trying to find the right words. I better start over, I'm sorry. That's okay. I'm really sorry. As I was saying, our staff has handled us with tremendous professionalism.

They worked morning, noon, and night, volunteering oftentimes to work over and to stay with residents or sit with residents. stay with residents or sit with residents. I have tremendous respect, love, and admiration for our staff. And how long have you been the administrator here at Good Shepherd? This June, it'll be 40 years. And in those 40 years, have you ever experienced anything like this? No, as I said, this has been the greatest challenge of a lifetime. Are there days that stand out to you during the pandemic as being pivotal? Two days stood out. One, we began to see what was happening throughout the state of West Virginia. throughout the state of West Virginia. I had made the decision on March 11th to close the facility to outside visitors. The other day that stands out to us was

December 23rd of last year when our residents received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. I felt for the first time in all of those months that we might have the chance of having the upper hand against this virus and that we might be able to begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. You know, I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility for these individuals and tremendous sense of accountability to them and to their family members. So there's been a tremendous number of sleepless nights, a tremendous amount of praying to God for an answer and I hope we're at that point right now. But I will say at the same time I feel that I've had no more, no less weight than any other staff member here. We're all in

this together and we share equally in the joy and in the pain. Yeah, that makes sense. I guess before you go, you did read the statement about the five people who died, but I do think it's important to talk a little bit about that and about what you can say about that, whether there's something specific about each of those people that you know or just the loss and sort of acknowledging that. I will say that I knew each one of them personally as I tried to know all of our residents personally. And I just have a terrible sense of regret and apology to them and to their families. I feel as if as administrator of this facility that I let them down.

And that's something I'll carry with me for the rest of my life. I couldn't keep the virus from taking their lives. I will be so much more happy, Sarah, when their family members are able to come in and see their loved ones again. There's no substitute for a one-on-one visit and that love and affection that cannot come through an electronic device. Well, thank you so much for your time, Mr. Kirsch. I really appreciate it. It's Don. Don, okay.

Everyone here calls you Mr. Kirsch. Yeah. Okay, that sounds good. We'll be here for Bunko later. Did anyone, did your parents, did your parents explain Bunko to you? You know, I think Zita explained it. Oh, okay. Yeah, she's something, isn't she?

She said something about dice and getting to 23. Right. Around 7 o'clock, I head to the final event of the day. A dice game called Bunko. Who's in charge? Is Zita in charge? It's Zita. Betty Lou and Zita are there, along with three others.

They're sitting around a table, and they each have a small cup of cheese puffs in front of them. Betty Lou had brought her auction winnings to share. Oh, she won Bunko. You won, Jane. I did? auction winnings to share. As the day draws to a close, I think about what this time at Good Shepherd tells us about the return to normalcy after the pandemic. There may have been an off switch at the beginning, but I realize there will be no on switch, no one instant when everything goes back to normal. But more and more, we may find moments of healing and togetherness, a shared coffee over lunch, a dice game with friends.

Betty Lou, what did you think? Lunch and penny auction. Oh my gosh, it's been a busy day. Goodness sakes. How do you feel at the end of the day? How do I feel today? Tonight, right now. Right now, I feel very happy about today. Well, it's nice meeting you.

Nice to meet you. Do you think you'll ever come back this week? Yeah, I think probably one day. There's a girl. I got your feedback. It was so good to see you. Good night. See you tomorrow.

Very nice. Oh, thanks for listening to me. Thank you, Zita. It was such a pleasure. I loved getting to know you, and I'm so glad you got to play Funko. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. In a series of new guidelines for nursing homes, released in recent weeks,

the Biden administration recommended that guests should be allowed to visit the residents inside of them, regardless of whether they or the residents have been vaccinated. In explaining the change, federal health officials cited the millions of vaccines already administered to nursing home residents and staff, as well as the, quote, psychological, emotional, and physical toll of keeping nursing home residents separated from their families. The Good Shepherd Nursing Home is now open to visitors.

We'll be right back. Here's what else you need to know today. What I'm worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It's sick. It's sick. During his first formal news conference as president, Joe Biden denounced the growing attempts by Republican state legislators to restrict access to voting, calling it a disgraceful strategy that recalled the days of Jim Crow in the American South. The Republican voters I know find this despicable.

Republican voters. Asked about the filibuster rule in the Senate, which requires 60 votes to pass legislation and threatens to block much of his agenda. Biden signaled that he was open to taking steps to limit or abolish it. So it's being abused in a gigantic way. Finally, Biden said he would set a new goal for vaccinations, 200 million doses administered by his 100th day in office in late April. I know it's ambitious, twice our original goal, but no other country in the world has even come close, not even close, to what we were doing. I believe we can do it.

I believe we can do it. Today's episode was produced by Stella Tan and Rachel Quester, with help from Alexandra Lee Young. It was edited by Anita Botticello and Lisa Chow, and engineered by Brad Fisher. The Daily is made by Theo Balcom, Lisa Tovin, Rachel Quester, Lindsay Garrison, Annie Brown, Claire Tennisgetter, Paige Cowan, Michael Simon-Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larissa Anderson, Wendy Dorr, Chris Wood, Jessica Chung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Lee Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Mark George, Luke Vanderplug, Sindhu Yanasambandhan, MJ Davis-Lynn, Austin Mitchell, Nina Patuk, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Daniel Guimet, Hans Butow, Robert Jimison, Mike Benoit, Bianca Gaver, Liz O'Balin, Aastha Chaturvedi, Caitlin Roberts, Our theme music is by

Special thanks to Sam Dolmick, Michaela Bouchard, Lauren Jackson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani, Nora Keller, Sophia Milan, Des Ibegois, Laura Kim,

Erica Futterman, and Shreya Sinha. That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro. See you on Monday.