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Friday, March 29, 2024

U.S. doctors enduring verbal abuse on the frontlines

Duration: 02:02s 0 shares 11 views

U.S. doctors enduring verbal abuse on the frontlines
U.S. doctors enduring verbal abuse on the frontlines

On top of grueling hours and non-stop work due to the coronavirus pandemic, doctors in New York, which has the most cases in the United States, have had to deal with being spat on, verbally abused, and more.

Gloria Tso reports.

Doctors across the United States are being pushed to their limits as hospitals are overwhelmed with the number of patients.

Dr. J.D.

Zipkin, a medical director of New York City-based urgent care centers, describes the work doctors have been doing on the front lines: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSOCIATE MEDICAL DIRECTOR FOR NORTHWELL HEALTH - GOHEALTH URGENT CARE, DR. J.D.

ZIPKIN, SAYING: "I describe it in two ways, one, we're drinking from the fire hydrant and the other way to describe it is, everything's on fire and the fire extinguishers are also on fire." But that's not all -- on top of their life-saving work Zipkin says they have had to deal with being spat on, a tirade of verbal abuse, and people trashing their lobbies when they didn't get what they wanted.

He's had to ramp up security at his hospitals in response.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) ASSOCIATE MEDICAL DIRECTOR FOR NORTHWELL HEALTH - GOHEALTH URGENT CARE, DR. J.D.

ZIPKIN, SAYING: "I've had a lot of my providers end their shifts in tears.

It's more than any of us signed up for." New York is the hardest-hit state in the U.S., accounting for almost half of the country's over 150,000 cases and climbing.

Dr. Jennifer Haythe is a critical care cardiologist at Columbia University Medical Center.

She says no visitors are allowed in her hospital anymore.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNIST AND CRITICAL CARE CARDIOLOGIST AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, DR. JENNIFER HAYTHE, SAYING: "There's an eerie quietness to the halls and the public spaces.

But there's a lot of sick people and there's a lot of people working really hard and I think it's stressful for a lot of people." Haythe says her days are non-stop, and she is still struggling to adjust to this new reality.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNIST AND CRITICAL CARE CARDIOLOGIST AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, DR. JENNIFER HAYTHE, SAYING: "I think we're all operating at this very high stress level, high cortisol level, and, you know, every now and then, you come down from that and it hits you." Health workers are not immune to the virus, and she emphasizes that everyone needs to do their part to keep them safe.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNIST AND CRITICAL CARE CARDIOLOGIST AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER, DR. JENNIFER HAYTHE, SAYING: "Healthcare workers are not an unlimited resource.

We get sick, too.

And at a certain point, we're gonna have a problem if the doctors aren't well and can't take care of people.

So we need to protect all the people that are in the fight by staying home and staying far apart from other people."

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