A TIME FOR HEROES (Our Coworkers)
A Commentary by Dennis Martino
As public managers and employees we have an up close view of the valiant work being performed daily by our, health care workers and first responders. We see it every day. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, these workers, mostly in the public and non-profit sectors have answered the call to serve our nation. Many of these workers are CPMs.
In nursing alone the numbers of our fellow workers and managers have become infected with the virus have risen rapidly.
“At least 5,400 nurses, doctors, and other health care workers responding to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States have been infected by the disease, and dozens have died, according to a BuzzFeed News review of data reported by every state and Washington, DC. However, the true number is undoubtedly much higher, due to inconsistent testing and tracking.
As of Thursday afternoon, 12 states reported health care worker infections: Alabama (393), Arkansas (158), California (1,651), Idaho (143), Maine (97), New Hampshire (241), Ohio (1,137), Oklahoma (229), Oregon (153), Pennsylvania (850), Rhode Island (257), and West Virginia (76). Additionally, Washington, DC (29) and Hawaii (15) reported infections at a specific hospital, not state or territory-wide. On Friday afternoon, Kentucky reported 129 health care worker infections.” (Hirji, 2020)
In two States, (Ohio and New Hampshire), medical worker infections represented more than 20% of total confirmed cases in the state.
As a member of the American Academy of Certified Public Managers, I urge all Public Managers across the country to find ways to honor and thank our colleagues in the caring professions. We could write letters to the editor. We can add comments to our email signatures that read something like, “Thank our healthcare workers and first responders for their brave work.” We could send letters to the fire stations, hospitals, nursing homes and police departments for posting on their bulletin boards, expressing our thanks.
I am personally very proud to be associated with people who protect us all from sickness and the ills of the world. Please do something locally to thank them.
Wishing you all the best,
Dennis T. Martino, M.Ed., MS, CPM
Dennis Martino is a member of the Executive Council of the National Certified Public Manager Consortium, and Immediate Past President of the American Academy of Certified Public Managers.