Hawkins: Hospitals and hospital workers were foundational to the country’s response to COVID

On behalf of the Texas Hospital Association, I’d like to thank DHR and the local community for hosting us here today. What a warm showing of community leaders – everyone coming together to take a moment to pay tribute to the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as those we lost.

COVID-19 left a lasting impact on us all. We fought alongside each other. We faced uncertainty together. We relied on our community’s frontlines – police, fire, grocery, health care – for a sense of security. We relied on our families, our coworkers and our hospitals.

It’s an honor for me to be here representing all Texas hospitals.

Starting today, every March 4 in Texas will be observed as COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day under the new state law developed by Representative Bobby Guerra and Senator Morgan LaMantia.

This day is critical because it establishes a clear moment in time to honor and recognize the contributions and sacrifices of Texans who played crucial roles during the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes health care professionals, first responders, essential workers, teachers, elected and public officials, media, local businesses, and countless others who bravely showed up every single day to protect us all.

March 4 also marks a time for us to memorialize the nearly 100,000 people in Texas who have lost their lives to COVID-19 since March 4, 2020 – the date the disease was first diagnosed in Texas. A day we will never forget – a day that sent all sectors of the state’s infrastructure into full-blown response mode.

Paramedics, police, fire departments, frontline workers, local, state and national leadership. The pandemic took us all on a painful and seemingly never-ending journey.

The Rio Grande Valley was particularly hit hard by COVID-19. Local hospitals were flooded with patients amid supply shortages and other unknowns. Fortunately for you all, the vigorous community spirit of the Valley was a force to be reckoned with.

Hospitals moved fast to brace for surges. Over the course of the pandemic, Valley hospitals converted units, ERs, clinics, cafeterias and other spaces into COVID-19 unites, and added more than 700 new beds to handle surges. Local hospitals became community vaccination centers.

DHR Health alone was the Rio Grande Valley’s single largest vaccination hub, providing more than 300,000 vaccinations through the pandemic. 

Exemplifying the spirit of community, Valley hospitals established a regional collaborative to provide convalescent plasma to area hospitals, share information, discuss best practices, and forecast new challenges and how to best prepare.

Over the course of time, the region would mourn more than 6,000 deaths due to COVID-19 – and heroes emerged from all corners of the community.

Texas hospitals played a critical role in the vaccine rollout as well, administering more than 7.5 million COVID-19 caching doses to our communities.

Despite these metrics, it’s hard to recall the details of the early days.

The intense uncertainty…the rapid-fire disease spread…school closures…making guidance…travel bans…hand sanitizer rationing…ventilator shortages. The country embarked on what we thought might be a few weeks of turbulence and closures. The reality? COVID wore on…and it will never be forgotten.

Today, things are better. I know we are all grateful to be able to focus on progress, as we hold a special place inside for our COVID memories. The single biggest lesson learned is that hospitals – and hospital workers – were foundational to the country’s overall public health response.

In addition to admitted patients, millions more were tested, treated, or vaccinated for COVID-19 in hospital outpatient and emergency settings. When COVID-19 hospitalizations surged, and capacity was bursting at the seams, time and time again – for trauma patients, baby deliveries, accident victims – without missing a beat.

Working alongside other first responders and community leaders, hospital employees showed up day after day. They showed up even when personal protective equipment was scarce and the lives were on the line. When Texas leadership announced that every Texan who needed a hospital bed during the pandemic would have one, hospitals were already there, having locked arms with public health officials to prevent illness and be ready.

While totally preventing community spread of COVID-19 was not realistic, hospitals embarked on an unprecedented venture alongside public health leaders to protect as many people as possible – rolling out massive vaccines campaigns, pumping out precaution messages, adjusting service lines to bend to new demands, launching programs to retain and find workers, administering new therapies and keeping the lights on during a total time of darkness.

COVID serves as a constant reminder of what’s required to combat any pandemic or public health crisis we may encounter in the future, the toll those events take on us, and how communities come together during the worst of times.

From frontline heroes to everyday families, we all fought and endured a public health crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetimes. It’s incumbent upon us to never forget this heroism – and what was put on the line – to protect and save Texans.

I cannot say enough about the bravery of each and every one of you, our Heroes who kept our society running amid confusion, uncertainly, risk, and danger. Your bravery and dedication ensured that we made it through the height of the COVID-19 pandemic intact.

COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day ensures that we honor and recognize the heroism and sacrifice from that time, and that we move forward together with greater partnership and community spirit to ensure the health of the Rio Grande Valley and all of Texas.

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Editor’s Note: The above commentary was provided by John Hawkins, CEO of the Texas Hospital Association at the inaugural COVID-19 Heroes and Memorial Day event hosted by DHR Health and held at the Edinburg Conference Center at Renaissance on March 4, 2024. Thank you to David Diaz and Legislative Media Services for providing the commentary.

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