2021 Montana Legislature
_____________
resolution NO. _____________
INTRODUCED
BY _________________________________________________
By Request of the ****
A resolution of the house of representatives of the state of montana expressing appreciation and gratitude to health care workers and support staff for their efforts during the covid-19 pandemic.
WHEREAS, in 2020, Montana experienced in COVID-19 the most severe pandemic in a century; and
WHEREAS, as of December 15, 2020, the Department of Public Health and Human Services reported that 74,040 Montanans had been sickened and 3,119 people had been hospitalized as a result of the pandemic by that point in the year; and
WHEREAS, on that same date, the department reported that 826 Montanans had died from the disease; and
WHEREAS, many others diagnosed with COVID-19 have suffered lingering medical issues; and
WHEREAS, Montana hospitals have been at or near capacity during the pandemic; and
WHEREAS, Montana's health care providers have been called upon to work under conditions far more challenging and stressful than normal during this pandemic, including the fear and uncertainty of a heightened risk of infection; worry that they may carry COVID-19 into their homes and infect loved ones; a severely limited supply of personal protective equipment; quickly evolving public health recommendations and protocols from local leadership, medical and public health experts, and political leaders; unusually high and increasing demands to work longer hours as their colleagues become sick or are quarantined; exposure to the physical and emotional strain of treating patients during a major health crisis; providing compassionate end-of-life care to patients facing their final moments without the comfort of in-person friends or families; and balancing their commitment to help others, which likely led them to choose health care as a profession, with the understandable commitment to protect themselves and their loved ones; and
WHEREAS, our health care workers have stepped up in countless ways, from physicians and nurses to environmental services and facilities staff, chaplains, medical technicians, and the dedicated leaders working behind the scenes; and
WHEREAS, health care workers have responded exceedingly well to the pandemic by showing up, putting in long hours, rapidly adapting the ways in which they provide care, revising schedules, embracing telehealth, and even repurposing facilities or creating improvised personal protective equipment; and
WHEREAS, health care workers have continued to demonstrate compassion and maintain a brave front despite the fears they may harbor; and
WHEREAS, some nurses, doctors, and caregivers have paid the price of love with their own health and death; and
WHEREAS, whether they were conscious of it or not, our health care workers' choice testified to a belief that it is better to live a shorter life serving others than a longer one resisting that call; and
WHEREAS, in many communities, Montanans have stood at their windows or doorsteps to applaud health care workers in gratitude and awe; and
WHEREAS, our health care workers are the saints next door, who have awakened something important in our hearts; and
WHEREAS, as Pope Francis recently said of all health care workers, "They are the antibodies to the virus of indifference. They remind us that our lives are a gift and we grow by giving of ourselves, not preserving ourselves but losing ourselves in service".
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the house of representatives OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
That, on behalf of all Montana residents, the House of Representatives returns the love of Montana health care workers by honoring the workers and offering the highest praise and deepest gratitude for their heroic actions during this public health crisis.