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Health care workers unite for impromptu prayer vigil

Doug and Ally Moran lead a prayer vigil outside Butler Memorial Hospital Tuesday night, inviting the community to engage in a moment of silent solidarity with those affected by COVID-19.EDDIE TRIZZINO/BUTLER EAGLE

More than a year-and-a-half of treating patients with COVID-19 has the staff of the Butler Health System exhausted.

On Tuesday, that exhaustion reached a breaking point for Ally Moran, a nurse at Butler Memorial Hospital, and she organized a prayer vigil outside the hospital in part to inspire some cathartic peace in a group setting.

“I just felt like it couldn't wait,” she said. “Just wanted to bring some unity, solidarity with each other. No judgements, just unity.”

About 35 people, many of them employees of Butler Health System and their families and friends, showed up to the vigil at 8 p.m. in the Brady Street parking lot, even though Moran put word out only a few hours earlier on social media. The Butler Bureau of Fire also brought two trucks filled with crew members to the vigil.

Ally and her husband, fellow nurse Doug Moran, led the group in prayer.

“It's just to bring some positivity,” Doug Moran said.

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