VA Butler staff deploys to help other facilities
Nurses dedicated to caring for military veterans at VA Butler Healthcare are answering the call to help veterans in southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey where there is a high incidence of COVID-19.
The latest wave of a dozen nurses left Butler on Friday for a 14-day deployment at State Veterans Homes and VA hospitals in the Philadelphia area and New Jersey.
A total of 38 staff members have already been deployed.
As a member of VA Butler's voluntary Disaster Emergency Medical Personnel System (DEMPS), this marks the fourth deployment for registered nurse Marcie Baker of Ford City.
“I've been in DEMPS since 2006 and I went to Waco, Texas, for Hurricane Katrina,” Baker said. “When you're with a group of people who are amazing to work with, it's an amazing feeling. It makes you warm inside knowing you're working with people who have true compassion. You become friends with these people for a lifetime. These are permanent connections.”
Most of those deployments were in response to natural disasters such a Hurricane Katrina, but this turn is different because of the highly contagious nature of the disease, she said.
“It's scary to be going into the situation, but I'm ready to help,” Baker said. “We have the appropriate equipment and the VA will make sure we're taken care of, so I have no worries. I'm ready to go down there and take care of the veterans.”
System members are deployed to other federal veterans health care facilities when needed, and volunteers are solicited if more staff is required.
“This is probably the hardest deployment. My family is afraid for me. It's scary, but then again it's rewarding to go. I feel I need to do this. It's just unbelievable how much every one cares about the veterans,” Baker said.
The staff will be staying in hotels during the deployment.
“I've been ready to go. It's nice to be able to get the opportunity to do this,” Baker said. Her previous deployments came when she worked at VA Pittsburgh Healthcare before she began working at VA Butler in 2015. She said this is her 19th year working for the VA.
From the earlier deployments this year, 28 staff members from VA Butler were sent to the State Veterans Home in Menlo, N.J., and the rest were scattered among veterans homes in Paramus, N.J., Southeastern Pennsylvania, and VA hospitals in Philadelphia and Lyons, N.J., according to Paula McCarl, public affairs officer for VA Butler Healthcare.
“Along with other medical facilities within the VISN-4 Network, VA Butler is but one of several facilities that is responding to a request for assistance at Veterans State Homes in New Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania and at the VA in Philadelphia. These deployments are voluntary, and all staff are properly assessed and equipped before deployment,” McCarl said.
Brenna McPherson of Butler, another registered nurse at the VA being deployed, said the staff cares for veterans every day, but volunteering in a time of need is another way of showing appreciation for the sacrifices they made for the country.
“I feel a moral and professional obligation to accept the opportunity,” McPherson said.
The staff that left Friday included registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nursing assistants, she said.
She committed to a 14-day deployment and is looking forward to returning home to tend to veterans here.
“We still have veterans here in Butler that we serve daily. I feel a commitment to them,” McPherson said.
Working long hours in an unfamiliar facility will be challenging, “but it will be worth it,” said Holly Beggs, a registered VA nurse from Butler.
She said her family, including her three children, are concerned but supportive about her volunteering for the deployment. The facilities are well-equipped and she is familiar with infectious disease protocol, she said.
“I just want to give back to veterans,” Beggs said.
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