Treating COVID-19 patients is more than just caring for their illness.
For one Dallas doctor, it's about filling them with hope that they're not alone and now her effort is taking off.
Pictures of a workday during the coronavirus pandemic prove why Dr. Jyothi Rereddy isn't your ordinary doctor.
"I start thinking about what can we do to maybe help these patients have some hope," said Rereddy.
Moved by the increasing number of COVID-19 patients forced into isolation during their hospital stay, she said she started collecting books to hand out to patients, and from there, handwritten notes.
Her sons gave her the idea to hand out games, like puzzles.
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Together, as a family, they started collecting games, puzzles, drawings, and other items.
The Volunteers In Medicine program, a program within HealthTexas Provider Network and Baylor Scott & White Health, stepped in to help the family sterilize the donations and safely pack them in the family's spare bedroom.
"So, I was fighting very hard to keep my dog from the sterile room," laughed Rereddy.
As word spread, donations grew, from hand-sewn masks to drawings from local children.
Within weeks, they delivered 260 patient care packages to four hospitals.
"You probably get more than what the patients are getting just knowing that you probably put a smile on a patient's face or you have given hope that they needed in that note," said Rereddy.
They also created 30 hero packages for nurses in the intensive care unit.
You can read Dr. Rereddy's personal essay here.
*Map locations are approximate, central locations for the city and are not meant to indicate where actual infected people live.
