100 signatures reached
To: Kim Schrier
Covid-19 Response Student Loan Forgiveness
Healthcare providers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic are working without adequate personal protective equipment, adequate staff (as more become ill and are quarantined), and adequate materials to test patients for the virus, thereby putting themselves at unacceptable risk due to the lack of appropriate action by the Federal Government of the United States. All healthcare personnel who have worked in environments providing care to COVID-19 positive patients should have any outstanding student loans relating to the education required for their licensure or certification forgiven immediately.
Why is this important?
I am a 64 year old Registered Nurse Manager working in an acute care hospital in the state of Washington. I have witnessed a heroic response to this pandemic; front line nurses, patient care technicians, physicians, pharmacists, laboratory techs, imaging personnel, and other licensed staff have reported to work and cared for COVID-19 patients for the past three weeks. We are now running low on personal protective equipment. On my 14 bed unit, three staff members are currently awaiting test results as they have become ill while caring for patients. They are unable to report to work, thus the rest of the staff are overworked - but they are showing up. Management has maintained a 24 hour per day Incident Command Center while continuing to run their units. Most of us have not had a day off in three weeks, yet we continue to report to work because we are committed to caring for our patients. Although we have put all elective surgeries on hold, staff from surgery are now working at each entrance to the hospital, screening every one who enters for their temperature and COVID-19 symptoms. We are making an extraordinary effort to reduce exposure to and transmission of this virus and at this point have received little to no support from the Federal Government. Student loans are regularly forgiven for healthcare workers who agree to work with underserved populations. Those who continue to care for patients in the current healthcare environment are entitled to reward for placing themselves at risk during this unprecedented crisis. Yes, we did commit to provide quality care to the population we serve, however, we did so assuming that our Federal Government would support us by ensuring that we would have adequate supplies to do our jobs without placing our own lives at risk.