The world around us has started to look very monochrome due to Covid-19. However, a brightly coloured story is like sunshine for the mind. The golden story took place in a hospital in a small town here in Switzerland.

Hospital in a small town in Switzerland

The town is big enough for a government hospital and two private hospitals. Only scheduled operations take place in one of the private hospitals. The patients only stay a few nights until they are strong enough to go home after the procedure. The main aim of the hospital and staff is to take care of patients mentally and physically after an operation for a speedy recovery.

With the onset of Covid-19, the government announced that all non-essential scheduled operations must first stop to focus on Covid-19 patients. The hospital in the story does not have an intensive care unit, and the director realized that without scheduled surgeries the hospital would have to close during Covid-19.

He was still organizing his thoughts, plans and communication with staff when he received an important call from the state hospital. There are several people with Covid-19 who have indicated on their medical documentation that medical intervention should not be applied to them as they approach their dying hour. Connecting to a ventilator is an example of medical intervention.

Requirement for death guidance

The government needed the hospital as a quiet place with care where people could spend their last days. Almost all the patients were elderly. This request was a big shock because dying guidance was not part of the hospital staff’s training. Their forte is getting patients back on their feet after operations.

This hospital received 50 seriously ill Covid-19 patients. The staff cared for these elderly patients with love and care. All the love and care made such a big difference that 47 of them were able to go back to their homes here on earth.

After the first Covid-19 peak in Switzerland, the numbers decreased, and the government gave the green light for scheduled operations. Staff disinfected the hospital and got everything ready to resume normal operations on Monday of the following week.

The elderly patient wanted to spend his last hours in his birth hospital

On Friday afternoon, the hospital director received an unexpected call. A 96-year-old resident was very ill with Covid-19, and they knew his time on earth was less than 48 hours.

He wanted to spend his last hours in the same hospital where he was born. His wife, in her nineties, also had Covid-19 and came along. It was a difficult decision, but the couple checked into the hospital on Friday evening. He breathed his last on Saturday. His wife’s grief knew no end, but she continued to fight the disease and could and had to go home alone.

A week later, the hospital director received a call from the daughter of the elderly couple. Her mother could not get over the loving treatment she and her husband received in the hospital. Out of gratitude, the lady donated a large amount of money and requested the director to distribute it among the hospital staff.

The hospital director arranged a function to thank each staff member for their exceptional service. He handed out a special certificate to acknowledge each one for their extraordinary care during the pandemic. In these times, it was not their technical knowledge that made the difference but the love and care with which they acted. The power of love and caring was higher than that of any ventilator.

Kind regards

Emsia