As part of their latest goodwill mission to aid staff at Lawrence General Hospital, eight National Guard soldiers dutifully learned how to don the proper PPE that will keep themselves and the patients they interact with safe during a recent new employee orientation. For Army Specialist Ashley Lassis, however, the session proved to be a homecoming of sorts.
Now she's a member of Task Force Powder Horn, but just two years ago, Lassis was working in the hospital's referrals department, scheduling ultrasounds and mammograms, she explains. Stationed in Reading, once the Lawrence resident heard Gov. Charlie Baker was activating 500 additional National Guard troops to help hospitals get through a staffing shortage and patient influx — sparked by the COVID-19 Omicron surge — she couldn’t wait to help.
"I opted to come here because it's local and I used to work here, so those were both pluses for me," said Lassis, who takes classes at UMass Lowell when she's not performing her Army duties as a military police officer.
"It feels pretty good to know we're getting help in Lawrence (to battle COVID)," she said.
According to Staff Sergeant Eric Gibb, officer in charge, the soldiers were stationed across the state before coming to assist at Lawrence General. Soldiers in the latest deployment live in cities including Lawrence, Methuen, Londonderry, New Hampshire, and Salem, New Hampshire.
They are working full-time at the hospital through March, Gibb said, performing non-clinical roles aimed at easing staffing challenges presented by the coronavirus. This group joins 10 soldiers who arrived last December.
Soldiers may work in security, serve as patient safety monitors or conduct patient transport duties, among other tasks. They are fully trained on the rules and regulations of the hospital, including confidentiality and infection prevention and control measures.
"Having the National Guard here is extremely helpful, because it frees up some of the medical assistants who were performing those duties who can now assist nurses bedside," said Director of Pre-Hospital EMS and Public Safety Paul Brennan, who works with Gibb to oversee the soldiers on a daily basis. "There's a tremendous need for it. There are patients who are highly vulnerable if they were to get out of bed or fall. These positions do make a big difference in the safety and security of patients."
More than half of the soldiers in this latest deployment speak a second language, and many are bilingual in Spanish, according to Gibb.
Brennan and Gibb make every effort to fit tasks to a soldier's strengths and interests. A soldier in the prior deployment works as a military police officer, so shifts in the hospital's security office were a natural fit, Brennan said.
"If this was a natural disaster, typically we'd have many volunteers from the community. With the pandemic, it's extremely beneficial to have the National Guard because they're trained professionals. They're very task-oriented, able to comprehend and this is right up their alley," Brennan said.
In recent weeks, National Guard members have acted as greeters in the Emergency Center and redirected visitors to the hospital's COVID-19 drive-thru testing center to another location when the site was closed.
"We've already gotten great feedback from the first group that's been here. Anything we can do to reduce the pressure on the staff. It may not seem like it helps, but it truly does," Brennan said. "I think for some people, just seeing soldiers in their uniform makes them feel more at ease. It's great to have a presence."
Shortly after orientation, two National Guard members were reassigned to other hospitals. Six soldiers will continue working at Lawrence General, according to Gibb.