NEW BERN, N.C. — CarolinaEast Medical Center celebrated a big milestone on Friday. It's one of the first hospitals in North Carolina to reach zero COVID-19 patients since March 2020.
What You Need To Know
CarolinaEast had zero COVID-19 patients as of Friday for the first time in two years
Other hospitals around the state have decreased coronavirus hospitalizations
Hospital staff celebrated but also voiced a need to process their mixed emotions
Nurses are enjoying the change and are getting prepared if a new round of COVID-19 comes
Other hospitals in the state are seeing a big decrease in numbers as well.
Cone Health in Greensboro is down to 35 hospitalized coronavirus patients. Two months ago it had over 300.
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist has about a dozen. UNC Health has 45. Duke University Hospital is down to 46. And Duke Regional Hospital is down to eight.
It's been almost exactly two years since the COVID-19 units at CarolinaEast have been empty.
“Being down here literally brings me to tears, because I can look at any room and remember a patient that's died in every single room,” said nurse Christi Herbst as she walked through the COVID-19 unit at CarolinaEast. “So I think it's a relief, and then also we're grieving and maybe processing for the first time.”
For Herbst these empty rooms are a cause for celebration, but they're also filled with mixed emotions.
“I realized yesterday, I really haven't processed anything I've seen,” Herbst said. “You just live in it all the time. And I think adrenaline keeps you going, and you feel like you're serving a purpose. So I think the mindset of service is on the forefront. So I think now stopping, I think I have a lot of processing and grieving to do.”
Herbst worked in the COVID-19 unit since day one. Spectrum News 1 spoke to her last summer when the COVID-19 unit was full, and all the nurses were feeling the exhaustion and pressure of a full-scale pandemic.
Herbst says she formed relationships with each of her patients. She celebrated with them when they were finally released from the hospital and cried when they passed away, often remembering them by room number.
“[Room] 24. We had a patient we all loved dearly, and I think the entire unit sat around here and cried when he passed away,” Herbst said. “So I think it's been a lot of grief here and a lot of fellowship with the nurses as we process together.”
Herbst says the support system between the nurses at CarolinaEast never failed.
“It has a family feel down here,” she said. “And no one passed away without us all grieving. And I think we'll hold on to those losses forever.”
As COVID-19 infections fall and people are less sick, life at the hospital looks very different.
Monday was Herbst's first day working with other patients since the hospital admitted its first coronavirus patient in March 2020.
“I can just freely interact with patients and families, and we can have visitors,” Herbst said. “I can just walk into the room, which is amazing.”
Nurses may also see their patients without putting on all the COVID-19 protection gear — at least for now.
But they have to remember that the pandemic isn't over.
“I never have expectations with COVID because every time I have an expectation, it's shattered,” Herbst said. “We're ready for another round, and we're gonna take this time to refresh and renew and be ready for the next round if it comes.”
CarolinaEast had over 2,000 coronavirus hospitalizations over the past couple of years. About 250 of those patients passed away, and the rest were released and sent back home. Now they are hopeful that the numbers stay low and the rooms stay empty.