At Holy Name, donations mean needed supplies — and much-needed uptick in spirit, morale

By
Eric Strauss
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There is the hotel, the Marriott at Glenpointe, which is giving rooms to doctors helping COVID-19 patients at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck.

There is the rental car company, Hertz, which is offering vehicles to staff to get them where they need to go.

There is the Russell Berrie Foundation, which has made large financial donations to help the hospital get through the crisis.

There is Gov. Phil Murphy, making sure Holy Name is getting all the state has to offer in terms of personal protection equipment.

And then there’s the food — coming from so many sources that Holy Name essentially has shut down its kitchen.

Holy Name clearly needs the support. The hospital currently is treating more than 100 COVID-19 patients, 37 of whom are on ventilators. Incredibly, it is treating 1,100 people recovering at home through telemedicine. It sees more than 100 people presenting with symptoms each day in its emergency room.

Jeff Rhode
Mike Maron, CEO of Holy Name Medical Center.

But, for all the donations to Holy Name — the hospital hardest hit by COVID-19 in the state — CEO Mike Maron is especially grateful for the spirt that behind each gift.

“For people to know that so many people are stepping up is incredible,” he said. “I don’t think they really think (about) or appreciate the morale boost that comes from that.

“When people here realize how many people are praying and caring and trying to do things to help in any way possible, it goes a long, long way in keeping people’s strengths up and keeping their spirits high.”

The offerings help in so many ways, he said.

Take the hotel.

“The Medical Society of New Jersey paid for several rooms there so that our staff could go and decompress and get a shower and change or take a power nap if they needed to outside of the hospital conditions,” he said. “It’s a great, wonderful gesture.”

The cars, Maron said, mean health care workers can travel without worrying they are bringing germs into personal vehicles that may be used by their families.

Of course, financial support is helpful, too, Maron said.

“Clearly, funding right now is important,” he said. “People are being generous, even though the markets and the financial world have sort of crashed out around us.

“That financial support  gives my staff resources to go negotiate the acquisition of the masks and gowns and goggles that are needed.”

Maron, who contracted COVID-19 himself during the crisis, said Murphy and his administration have done all he could have wanted and more.

“I can’t say enough about them,” he said. “Gov. Murphy has just been extraordinarily responsive. He’s been in touch with me multiple times every day. When I was at my weakest, he was offering words of support and encouragement, but also helping Holy Name.

“When we were getting low on supplies, the next thing you know, a truck would show up. And, so, I cannot say enough about him.”

Want to help? Go to www.helpholyname.org.

Any gesture will be well received.

“It’s amazing how much the thoughts of people outside our hospital help the people inside it,” Maron said.

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