North Shore Doctor Offers Dispatch From Coronavirus Front Lines

SALEM, MA — A month ago, you could tell the difference between doctors and nurses at North Shore Medical Center in Salem by what they wore. Nurses wore scrubs, while doctors wore professional attire under whit coats and stethoscopes.

"Now we all look identical, wearing scrubs, scrub caps, N95 masks, goggles, face shields, gowns, and sneakers – all here serving the community," Dr. Jessica Benedetto wrote in a first-person account released by Partners Healthcare, the hospital's parent company. "There is positive energy flowing through our hospital that is unprecedented. We are all in this together, until the last COVID-19 patient goes home to family. On that day, we will celebrate, in unison."

Benedetto's essay gives a firsthand account of the coronavirus pandemic at one of the busiest hospitals on the North Shore. As of 5 p.m. Sunday, North Shore Medical Center was treating 135 COVID-19 patients, including 21 in the intensive care unit, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Benedetto, an internal medicine physician, writes about taking on double the number of shifts she normally takes and overcoming her own nerves when the hospital started seeing COVID-19 patients last month.

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"And then, the patients came, and the numbers have risen rapidly. Some need ventilators, some a lot of oxygen. I remember feeling my heart pound as I went into those first rooms of COVID-19 patients," she said. "Was I putting on the gown correctly? Did I have my eye protection in place? I tried not to look nervous and instead to reassure my patients (and maybe myself) that we would take care of them."

Benedetto said one of the hardest parts of the surge has been trying to comfort patients and families who cannot see one another because of coronavirus rules at the hospital.

"I call their families, who aren’t allowed to see their loved ones in the hospital. It is heartbreaking," she said. "I try to bridge the gap, learning as much as I can about my patients, so that they won’t feel so alone."

Read Dr. Benedetto 's essay.

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Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).