Who are the frontline workers taking on COVID-19? At Southcoast Health, our frontline includes physicians and providers, nurses, clinical support staff, respiratory therapists, first responders and so many more. But, for many of us, they are our parents, grandparents, children, neighbors and community members, all risking their wellbeing for our safety.

Strong and determined, the Southcoast frontlines even have some members you might not think of: Injury Prevention Specialist and Athletic Trainers (IPS / AT).

Kathleen Thornton, Certified Athletic Trainer, Injury Prevention, shared with us how her team is delivering on the frontline. Starting the week of March 16, the IPS / AT team was redeployed to our Urgent Care Centers. There, they are interacting with patients. They function as greeters and screen the patient’s symptoms before testing. Exercising these simple actions helps mitigate the risk of infection.

“Our team wanted to be able to help wherever needed,” Thornton said. “Southcoast is doing a wonderful job mobilizing all of its resources to be ready to react to an increase in patient volumes due to the COVID-19 outbreak.”

Southcoast is focused on meeting the healthcare demand for COVID-19 and continues to ready its healthcare professionals. In turn, medical staff like Kathleen asks the community to “Please adhere to the mandates and advisories being issued by the governor and Massachusetts DPH. We are all in this together as a community, and we will get through this together.”