He isn’t one to pat himself on the back, but Molly is proud enough of her husband to do it for him.
“He’s exceptionally dedicated,” she says, admitting his work ethic was at times frustrating “in the beginning.” Some of Wade’s team members “opted out” of their assignments, which left the department short-staffed, even as procedures were changing and the work increasing.
“If an employee isn’t there, he stays to fill in,” she says.
That has translated to Wade’s covering all meals and being at the office through his own family’s dinnertime. The couple has a 7-month-old baby, so when Molly and Wade come home from work, they follow a strict ritual of changing clothes and washing up before having contact with their son and relieving the other parent of his or her childcare duties. Waiting in the wings is a mobile home that Wade or Molly will live in, should one of them contract the virus.
They know this virus is not to be taken lightly. Both of them are face to face with the harsh realities of COVID-19. They’ve said good bye to patients and residents.
“It’s been hard,” Molly says. “No one expected it to be going on for so long.”
And yet, they find hope and strength in their work and in each other. “I’m so proud of Wade,” she says. “He inspires me every day.”