So there appears to be a major communication breakdown at Dallas County’s Parkland Hospital when it comes to patient visits at the moment. The hospital is prudently limiting patients to one visitor per day for half an hour during a three-hour window. 1/7

At least in my family’s case, we listed a handful of potential visitors for my dad, who’s been in critical care for a month with COVID. My mom, brother and myself are listed as visitors. It’s smart to limit who can visit, especially as the pandemic rages on. 2/7

But that information sometimes fails to be available to the support staff at reception who screen visitors. We have seen people be turned away, including many people who only speak Spanish. Often overheard is “But we’re on the list” and “We already called to be added.” 3/7

It happened to my mom this weekend. She spent almost 2 hours frantically trying to get a hold of nurses. I ended up having to contact someone in the nursing administration office, who so kindly went down to reception and took my mom to see my dad. 4/7

Not criticizing the nursing staff/doctors. They’re extremely busy and they still make time during daily updates to ask who will be visiting on certain days. They work too hard to have to deal over and over with families calling the nurses desk for bureaucratic help. 5/7

Put yourself in the shoes of relatives who have a loved one who’s on the brink of death and not being able to communicate with the nursing staff because they’re slammed. Imagine being an undocumented immigrant afraid to rock the boat so you just leave and are unable to visit. 6/7

Not trying to go full Karen here, but everyone involved is under a lot of stress. For relatives, seeing our loved ones for a few minutes a day makes a huge difference. I tell doctors/nurses every day how much we appreciate them. Seems they could be getting more support here. 7/7