PHOTO COURTESY VINCENTIAN

If you’re wondering how you can support front-line health care workers from your own home, Vincentian Home senior care has a way for you to do so.

The organization of senior living communities has initiated a virtual Cheering Section, which allows people to submit customized messages of gratitude for the staff or encouragement for residents throughout Vincentian’s eight sites across the Pittsburgh region. The May 8 launch preceded this year’s National Skilled Nursing Care Week, which ends on Saturday. Users can upload an image attachment to complement their memo.

“Your heroic efforts are like a light shining in a sometimes dark world,” one message to the staff reads.

According to Jude Hazard, the executive director of marketing and communications, Vincentian has received more than 100 messages through the Cheering Section. He noted that of all the coronavirus deaths in Pennsylvania, 68% are associated with nursing and personal care homes.

“We truly view our front-line staff as health care heroes on the front lines of this pandemic, doing everything they can to keep residents safe,” Hazard says. “They deserve all the praise they get and more.”

The messages are delivered to specific staff members or residents if it’s been customized. Many compliments have been for the whole staff, and those have been printed out and posted in a staff space and sometimes presented in a slideshow on closed-circuit TV channels.

Since Vincentian facilities restricted in-person visits in mid-March, people have been able to schedule video conferences with residents and send them messages through the letters@vcs.org email account. Hazard says the account has gotten about 400 emails.

The email account and the virtual Cheering Section will be open for the foreseeable future, according to Hazard. He says Vincentian may keep the platform running once the health crisis resolves, since many people can’t easily complete an in-person visit during normal times. 

Hazard says the entire Vincentian community has appreciated the kind words.

“It’s very touching, heart-felt and heartbreaking to read all the messages and see how family members are reaching out to their loved ones and wanting to be connected at this time,” Hazard says.