PORTLAND, Oregon — Doctors, nurses and other health care professionals in the Portland area have a new option for childcare and other assistance while they work amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Medical and dentistry students at Oregon Health & Science University and nursing students at the University of Portland are offering to watch children, run errands and go grocery shopping, free of charge, while their classes are suspended. The assistance program is open to all health care workers in the Portland area.
A week after its creation, the program has initiated 64 childcare support pairings and has hundreds of would-be volunteers throughout the city of Portland and in suburban areas such as Gresham, Vancouver and Wilsonville.
The program was the brainchild of Emily Lane, a third-year medical student at OHSU who said Saturday that she’s been an advocate for childcare for both staff and students.
“When classes (at public schools) were canceled, the first thing I thought of was, all these people have children and who’s going to watch them,” she said.
She decided to create a Google Form for requests and offers of assistance and, with the help of doctors, began spreading the word via Twitter. The Oregon Medical Association and the Oregon chapter of the American College of Physicians helped distribute the form as well.
Two classmates who also had been involved in on-campus advocacy, Chris Graulty and Audrey Tran, quickly joined Lane’s efforts.
Graulty was doing a rotation in pediatric emergency medicine when coronavirus began spreading in Oregon. “There was all this panic and stress in the (emergency department), particularly from nurses and doctors who were starting to have trouble getting childcare,” he said. “It caused this dilemma where healthcare workers were having to choose between coming in to care for patients and caring for their children.”
“I was worrying about that when the rotation got canceled, and suddenly we were at home doing nothing.” Then he saw Lane’s form calling for volunteers.
Tran said, “There’s a part in all medical students: We feel like we just want to help.” She said it’s been inspiring to see the outpouring of support for the assistance program.
Graulty said the program is trying to make childcare and other support as accessible as possible. “If you are an essential healthcare worker who has to keep working because of this crisis, sign up for the form,” he said.
OHSU employees can send texts to Graulty’s and Lane’s pagers to get the form. Twitter users can send a direct message to Lane at @EmilyCALane. There’s also a program hotline: 503-383-9776.
OHSU classes are currently scheduled to resume April 27. The medical students said they’re hoping the program can continue beyond that point. “We’re trying to build up a good infrastructure where it can adapt to whatever may come,” Lane said.
The program is also accepting donations to help student volunteers with limited finances, such as by reimbursing them for gas. Donations are being accepted through Venmo; search for the PDXCOVIDHEALTH account.
Graulty said of working on the program, “It’s been challenging, and it’s actually turned out to be a really good educational experience.”
Tran said the program has shown that one person can make a difference. “Don’t be paralyzed by a sense of helplessness. (Ask) what else are other people doing, and maybe I can join? How can I meet the need?”
awang@oregonian.com; Twitter: @ORAmyW
This article was originally published by The Oregonian/OregonLive, one of more than a dozen news organizations throughout the state sharing their coverage of the novel coronavirus outbreak to help inform Oregonians about this evolving health issue.
