Playing with purpose: K-State dedicates game to freshman who died recently
25 March 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Friday marked the three-year anniversary of the first COVID-19 case going to Ascension Via Christi St. Francis in Wichita.
Paula Ast lost her husband, Gary, after a short illness in 2020.
Paula and Gary Ast (KSN Photo)
“He had been sick for a couple of days,” said Paula. “And he was having a coherent conversation with me.”
Paula says it was only about 45 minutes later, in 2020, that Gary was no longer coherent. He was taken by air ambulance to St. Francis.
Three years after the first COVID-19 patient, doctors at St. Francis said many lessons were learned after converting an entire floor to COVID-19 care.
“It was a real team effort in terms of trying to figure out how to manage this pandemic,” said MD Maggie Hagan, who is in charge of infection prevention for Ascension Via Christi hospital. “It’s just an event all of us will remember.”
Hagan says after three years, COVID-19 is very much still here. She also says hospital staff, as well as the public, have learned much in the last three years.
“My job is much better than it was three years ago,” explained Hagan. “You know our days were really long during the dark days of the COVID epidemic.”
Hagan says vaccinations helped save lives as well.
Other staff working during the pandemic look back and say communication was key with families in the early height of the pandemic.
“So I think three years ago the healthcare world was just kind of turned on its head,” said Sarah Onwugufor, nurse care manager of neurocritical care at St. Francis. “So it really took a number on all of us. And that was kind of the first case that we had, but it went on for two years, and it was pretty much like that the whole two years.”
Sarah remembers using her own cell phone to communicate with family on facetime and give them a chance to talk to Gary while he was in isolation.
“They reached out to us, we had facetime with him, so we could chat with him,” said Paula. “We could pray with him.”
Paula says even though Gary passed away from complications from COVID-19, the level of care her husband received was outstanding. And she is particularly grateful for the time staff took to allow her time on video calls.
“I would talk to him,” said Paula. “Even though he was not responding at that point. I believed he could still hear me.”
Paula says other family members got to talk to Gary before he passed and were also grateful for the chance.
COVID-19 lessons learned over the last three years means that we are stronger as a team and as a community.
“Making a difference, and we may not be able to save all the lives but making a difference and knowing we did everything we could,” said Hagan. “We’re going to be better prepared for the next big thing that comes around, the next big pandemic, and hopefully, it’s going to be a hundred years from now.”