A nurse in Chicago is collecting money to buy cellphone chargers for Chicago hospitals so that patients admitted with COVID-19 have a way to connect to loved ones, according to WTTW, a PBS member TV station.
Often, COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals have only their cellphones to communicate with loved ones when hospitals enact visitor restrictions to curb the virus' spread. If they forget to bring a charger or don't have one, they may be left without a way of contacting those outside the hospital.
Nurses have stepped up, letting patients borrow their chargers if needed. But as patient volume rises, so do the requests for chargers.
"Every person I’ve talked to who's a nurse says, 'Multiple people ask me for a charger every day.' And I've had patients whose phones have died, and they couldn’t connect with their loved ones, and it’s very sorrowful to watch that happen," Megan Cairns Tress, RN, a nurse practitioner told WTTW.
Ms. Tress started collecting donations via Facebook to buys chargers in bulk and give them to hospitals in the area. She has since created a GoFundMe page. The effort has earned about $2,000 toward its $15,000 goal. Ms. Tress is also asking wholesalers, retailers or manufacturers who can contribute chargers to contact her.
So far, University of Illinois Health in Chicago and West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Ill., have been supplied with chargers. Ms. Tress aims to supply as many hospitals in the area as possible.