Frontline Heroes Reflect: COVID-19’s Lessons One Year Later

A year after Denver Health Medical Center treated its first COVID-19 patient, frontline workers like Dr. Ivor Douglas are unpacking the pandemic’s hard truths.

\"The American pandemic revealed our healthcare system’s brilliance and its brokenness,\" says Douglas, Director of Critical Care. He compares the crisis to a \"civilian war zone\" – one marked by Zoom goodbyes, crowded ICUs, and lives lost to systemic inequalities.

The Tsunami Nobody Saw Coming

Douglas recalls the early days: delayed tests, ventilators in short supply, and families torn apart. \"To watch patients die alone… that’s a burden I’ll carry forever,\" he admits. By November, his pleas for caution went viral: \"A Thanksgiving over Zoom beats Christmas on a ventilator.\"

ICU Today: A Different Battlefield

Now, COVID cases in his unit have dropped to just two. But new challenges arose: overdoses, heart disease, and pandemic-induced isolation. \"The collateral damage is as lethal as the virus itself,\" Douglas says.

A Wake-Up Call for Change

Despite the trauma, he’s hopeful: \"We’re at a transformative moment.\" He urges leaders to address healthcare gaps and racism exposed by COVID-19. \"Would we have faced these truths without the pandemic? Probably not.\"

As vaccines roll out globally, Douglas honors colleagues who risked everything: \"They showed up when the world shut down.\" His final message? Learn from this crisis – because the next pandemic is coming.

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One year later, frontline workers battle COVID-19

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