HCW HOSTED is a Tucson-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to facilitating community support of healthcare workers and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Because we can only be as healthy as the healthcare workforce that cares for us.

COVID-19 News

Vetted and collected by our Medical Anthropology & Epidemiology Team
Updated July 28, 2021

American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association call for Mandatory Vaccination of Health Care Workers

A group of nearly 60 major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association, called on Monday for mandatory vaccination of health care workers. As the highly contagious Delta variant drives a new surge of coronavirus cases, vaccination is an ethical obligation for health care workers. Read more here…

Arizona Health Officials Report 1,508 New COVID-19 Cases

Health officials in Arizona on Sunday reported 1,508 new COVID-19 cases . Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 have been on the rise, with unvaccinated people accounting for almost all of the serious illnesses.

Since March, people who are not fully vaccinated made up 98% of deaths and 94% of hospitalizations. Those not fully vaccinated make up 89% of cases to date. Read more here…

Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who weren’t vaccinated

An Associated Press analysis of available government data from May shows that “breakthrough” infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 853,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations. That’s about 0.1%. Moreover, only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths (0.8%) in May were in fully vaccinated people. Read More…

Nearly half the U.S. Adult Population is Fully Vaccinated

Good news: Nearly half the U.S. adult population is fully vaccinated and protected against from severe COVID-19 . However, adjusting for vaccination, the rate among susceptible, unvaccinated people is 69 percent higher than the standard figures being publicized for the population at large. See details at the Washington Post

It Is Important for Teens to Get Vaccinated

Younger teens may not be as likely to have severe COVID-19 as adults, but their hospitalization rates spiked early this year and left a large proportion in critical care. Notably, nearly one-third of the adolescent hospitalizations for COVID-19 required intensive care unit (ICU) admission, while 5% required invasive mechanical ventilation. No patients died.

These hospitalization rates were cumulatively 2.5 to 3.0 times higher than those seen with influenza over the three most recent flu seasons. Read More at the CDC.

Who We Are

HCW Hosted is a Tucson-based, non-partisan non-profit dedicated to facilitating community support of healthcare workers and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.Â

We are healthcare workers & family members, anthropologists, public health professionals, psychologists, epidemiologists, and general community members. We are committed to serving and supporting the whole frontline healthcare team:Â nurses, respiratory and radiology technicians, doctors, aides, environmental services workers, hospital social workers, EMTs, medics, case managers, unit clerks, and all the other professions who make frontline healthcare possible.

10/11/2020 HCW Hosted Memorial for Health Care Workers Lost to Covid-19

What We Do

We started out as a community-based initiative to help assure the well-being of HealthCare Workers (HCWs) throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our initiative is responsive to the feedback of HCWs and their families. As we learn more about HCWs needs, we will mobilize community resources to meet these needs.

Currently, we provide support to healthcare workers looking for housing during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent family members from becoming infected. This happens by helping them find suitable places to self-quarantine, ideally with their colleagues. In addition to housing, our goal is to monitor the ongoing health status of HCWs, offer social and logistical support services for their partners/spouses and children, and connect them to emotional health services.

Our efforts in our local community are allowing us to develop a prototype for a model that can be implemented in communities across the country. We are working to develop a technological platform that will allow employers and communities to connect to support their local healthcare workforce.

Terri Waldman, Social Worker

As a social worker, I have always been involved in supporting and advocating for others. With the onset of COVID-19, I have now dedicated my professional time to providing temporary placement for older adults with the virus and I have seen first hand the devastation...

B.H. Registered Nurse

I’m terrified to bring Covid home to my elderly parents I live with. I ended up with Covid myself and infected my whole family. Tremendous guilt ensued, and I’m still terrified to come home. I feel like a leper, and that most people want to stay as far away from me as...

Sharon Going, Nurse Practitioner Hospitalist

"Hey, you okay?" I have been asked this question more than any other in the past few months... by colleagues who understand when my only response is a terse laugh or a sarcastic quip. By friends from afar who have messaged me after seeing my local area make national...

S.B., Psychiatric Technician

"I remember one night. I was sitting with a COVID patient, and there was a little boy who had contracted the COVID virus. He had to be transported to another hospital and he didn't understand why his mother couldn't ride with him in the ambulance. He had a whole bunch...

Bradley Dreifuss, Physician

This story originally appeared in the New York Times Op-Ed section on June 26, 2020. As I write this, I have just finished my ninth consecutive overnight shift as an emergency medicine physician here. At the end of each shift I go to an Airbnb, where I have been...

Anonymous, X-Ray Technician

As an X-Ray Tech, I come face to face with COVID daily. I mean that in the most literal sense. We in the medical field are staring this pandemic in the eye on a daily basis. We put aside our fears, panic and our worries because if we freeze, if we give in to the panic...

Karin Blasko, MSN RN, Nurse Educator

I am a nurse heartbroken by the devastating effects of COVID-19. I am not on the frontlines. I have been plagued with the burden of helplessness. I have witnessed the distress of my healthcare heroes faced with indescribable situations. I have wanted to answer the...

Anonymous, Environmental Services Worker

I have no choice. I have 4 kids I must feed. I cannot refuse. They will say goodbye and hire someone else. I am an Environmental Services worker. In the beginning we were not given N95 masks--even if we were cleaning COVID positive rooms, after intubations, after...

Anonymous, Hospital Environmental Services Worker

Every room I go into, I don't know--was someone here who had COVID? We have to protect our families. I have two little kids at home. Sometimes I get home while they are already awake and they run to hug me right away. And I have to avoid them and run away from them to...

C.W., Medical Office Billing & Scheduling

When COVID started my hours were cut at the same time staff were cut AND my job duties increased. I am now doing the job of three positions in half the time. Working in the insurance area, I have been very frustrated with the inaction of insurance companies to provide...

Anonymous, Home Health Caregiver

Im a home health caregiver. I go to clients' houses. It's very hard with the clients. You have to tell them wash your hands, sanitize your hands, do like this, do like that. It's very hard. And then when I come back from work, I need to clean everything, sanitize...

Monica, Registered Nurse

Since Covid-19, I have mostly been separated from my 9-year-old daughter, and this is the hardest part. For a while we tried isolating my shifts in time--I would work a bunch of days, then be off for a stretch of days, and she could stay with me toward the end of my...

HCW HOSTED Blog

What Can I Do Now That I’m Vaccinated?

by The Epidemiology & Medical Anthropology Team | Mar 11, 2021

Congratulations: Once 14 days has passed since completing all your COVID-19 vaccination shots you are now protected against severe COVID-19. This holds true for both the original strain and forms of variants that are now circulating. Good news: You are far less...

Where We Are Now

by Brad Dreifuss, MD, FACEP FAAEM | Feb 26, 2021

I'm Brad Dreifuss--Emergency Medicine Physician, father, husband. Last March, my wife, Heather, and I watched with alarm as the pandemic began to sweep across the world like wildfire. We realized that our healthcare system, workforce, and our family would need help to...

Caring for Our Healthcare Workers

by Heather Dreifuss, DrPH, MAT, MPH & Karin Blasko, MSN, RN | Feb 23, 2021

As a nurse (Karin) and a public health professional married to a healthcare worker (Heather), we both knew in March of 2020 that the world’s healthcare workers and their families were about to encounter an overwhelming challenge. They would need all the support they...

Donor Spotlight: Kaya Dreifuss, 11

by Patti Haring, MBA, PMP | Feb 9, 2021

Kaya Dreifuss, the 11-year-old daughter of two of HCW HOSTED's founders, Drs. Brad and Heather Dreifuss, became the first donor to HCW HOSTED, Inc. on June 20, 2020 when she donated $67. Kaya raised the money by making and selling several lavender pouches to be given...

Now That You’re Vaccinated

by Mark Nichter, PhD, MPH & Kacey Ernst, PhD, MPH | Feb 5, 2021

Congratulations on getting your COVID-19 vaccine! Thank you for doing your part to move our community one step closer to healthy. Now that you're vaccinated, you may have questions about what to expect and what you should do next. Our HCW HOSTED Epidemiology &...

Why Health Citizenship?

by Mark Nichter, PhD, MPH | Feb 1, 2021

One of the primary roles of HCW HOSTED is advocacy for healthcare workers, broadly defined.1 High on our list, beyond advocating for support services and resources for healthcare workers, is advocating for public policies and social norms that prevent the health care...

Combating the Pandemic Infodemic

by Mark Nichter, PhD, MPH | Jan 5, 2021

At present, we are facing not just a COVID-19 pandemic, but also an infodemic. We are inundated with a steady flow of information about COVID-19 that often appears overwhelming. Much of the information is highly technical and packed with statistics that are difficult...

What We Do

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Since Our Founding in April 2020

We Have Provided…

Services

Emotional Support Services

HCW HOSTED offers free mental health and wellness support to healthcare workers enrolled in the program. Healthcare workers may experience significant physical, psychological, social and financial stress while responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

These stressors are complicated by being physically distanced from loved ones and normal routines of coping.

Healthcare workers trained in the Assisting Individuals in Crisis program through International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc. and the University of Arizona Resilience in Stressful Events (R.I.S.E.) program are peer coaches who help other healthcare workers move through short term crises and to encourage and identify effective coping mechanisms.

As of November 2020, we have offered emotional support services to 51 healthcare workers.

Daily Monitoring

Every day, registered healthcare workers receive a 2-3 minute survey via text or email to check on their last work shift, COVID-19 symptoms, stress level, and sleep quality. HCW HOSTED staff check on healthcare workers when changes in their baseline daily monitoring occur.

As of November 2020, we have provided daily monitoring services to 49 healthcare workers and counting.

Housing - temporarily Unavailable

A primary goal of HCW HOSTED is to provide safe quarantined housing for healthcare workers exposed to COVID-19 to reduce risk of exposure to families, loved ones, and colleagues at limited expense.

As of November 2020, we have facilitated housing for 35 healthcare workers for periods of 2 days to 5 months, providing them a safe space to live while they mitigate the spread of COVID-19 to their families. The typical stay has been 24 days.

Depending on the healthcare worker’s needs they are placed in local hotels or in homes provided by generous community members.

In the first phase of our existence, we have focused on smaller trials of services, refining our understanding of what services healthcare workers want. During this phase, we offered services to 135 Tucson healthcare workers.

We continue to offer those services locally as we develop a technological platform that can be used in communities around the globe to allow employers to contract for the services and connections in their local communities that will support the physical and emotional well-being of their employees.

Sign Up for Services

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Advocacy

The pandemic requires a coordinated government response and pressures on the public to comply with preventive measures. Healthcare workers are risking their lives and need every help we can give in order to do the jobs they committed to, for us.

Deborah P, Connecticut
Healthcare Worker

As a Healthcare worker, I've seen the devastation Covid19 can bring. We need to band together in ALL preventative measures to keep ourselves & each other safe!!

Liz M, Pennsylvania
Healthcare Worker

We all deserve the best access to medical care and also need to hold ourselves and each other accountable for the prevention of the spread of coronavirus.

Shontae U, from New York
Healthcare Worker

The best way to keep everyone safe is to wear a mask, practice social distancing, and keep your contacts with people outside your circle to a minimum. If we work together, we can slow the spread of Coronavirus.

Mary Beth A., North Carolina
Government Employee

I want to keep my family, clients and others safe from this virus. I do not want the front line workers to be forgotten. I want to do my part to stop the spread of COVID-19 as a caring, responsible person should.

Brenda R, Massachusetts
Healthcare Worker

I care about my community and colleagues as much as my family. It's my RESPONSIBILITY as a citizen of this beautiful world and country to Care for others as I would myself. We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers and defenders. I fight for your life at work. Please fight for mine.

Karen H, Arizona
Healthcare Worker

I support common sense planning, prevention, and policy to get COVID-19 under control. #ScienceMatters

Amit C, Virginia
Healthcare Worker

We are only going to beat this virus if everyone takes it seriously.

Anne W, Colorado
Healthcare Worker

I am a healthcare worker and people need to do the steps to keep this virus under control. Government also needs to do their part in supporting front line workers, and supporting the the thousands of Americans who are out of work due to the pandemic.

Susan H, California
Healthcare Worker

It's way past time that we get this thing under control. If some won't do their part, it makes it ever more important that the rest of us do ours.

Valerie C, Pennsylvania
Government Employee

It is important that every person and every government official work together and do everything possible to get COVID-19 under control. The government has got to step up and do everything they are supposed to do.

Sheryl S, Tennessee
Restaurant Worker

My mother in law died alone in a Covid hospital. Both my husband and I work-and have been at work at a grocery store-and routinely practice safety protocols. Dear friends are healthcare workers-and I care about the mental, physical and spiritual health of all of us.

Lisa N, Illinois
Essential Worker

Healthcare Voices

Many healthcare workers fear retaliation by their employers if they speak publicly about their work situations. Those voices are important and need...

HOSTED in the News

We believe in the importance of elevating heatlhcare worker concerns at the local, national, and international levels.

Healthcare Worker Memorial

The count of U.S. healthcare workers who have died of COVID-19 keeps increasing without any sign of slowing. Documented healthcare worker deaths are...

Health Citizen Pledge

Add your name to the Health Citizen Pledge and commit to do your part to control the pandemic.Rebecca R, Texas Business OwnerShontae U, from New...

HCW HOSTED advocates for: 1) bringing healthcare worker voices and experiences to the public’s attention, 2) providing resources to keep healthcare workers and their families safe, and 3) promoting evidence-based policies that protect healthcare workers and the communities they serve. We believe in elevating the voices of healthcare workers, ensuring that those voices are a prominent part of the public conversation about the pandemic.

Healthcare Voices is a series of short articles from frontline healthcare workers discussing their experiences in the pandemic. You are invited to add your voice to the series, anonymously or credited.

The Health Citizen Pledge is a set of concrete, actionable steps that the general public can commit to taking to get the pandemic under control–and a call to our government and elected officials to do their part.

HOSTED in the News collects local, national, and international media appearances by HCW HOSTED team members, including the New York Times, BBC Newshour, Univision, and KGUN9 Tucson.

The Healthcare Worker Memorial was a live event we hosted on October 11, 2020 to memorialize U.S. healthcare workers who have died of COVID-19.

Information

Because COVID-19 is a new disease, information about it evolves continually. Our Medical Anthropology & Epidemiology Team reviews, evaluates, and compiles COVID-19 information as it emerges so that we can help you find current and accurate information about the pandemic.

We have categorized information into several categories for your convenience.

Staying Safe at Home and in the World covers the latest in COVID-19 prevention and management information for a general audience.

Healthcare Workers & COVID covers the mental and physical health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers.

Our COVID Overview discusses some of the most recent research on COVID-19 from evidence-based published and unpublished sources.

In Additional Resources, we provide links to other sites you may find useful.

Additional Resources

These links are to outside information and resources that have been suggested by our team.WHO COVID-19 Official CDC COVID-19 Official Arizona COVID-19 Dashboard Dear Pandemic...

COVID Overview

Because COVID-19 is a new disease, information about it evolves continually. Our Medical Anthropology & Epidemiology Team reviews, evaluates, and compiles COVID-19 information as it emerges so...

Healthcare Workers & COVID

Healthcare Workers & COVID covers the mental and physical health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers. Typically, when the term healthcare worker is mentioned the first groups...

Staying Safe At Home & In the World

Knowing what to do to prevent and prepare for COVID-19 is an important part of being a health citizen. Knowledge is power! The information below has been collected by our public health experts,...

Who We Are

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We are healthcare workers & their family members, anthropologists, public health professionals, psychologists, epidemiologists, business professionals, and concerned community members.

Meet Our Teams

We serve the whole healthcare team: from nurses to doctors to respiratory techs to EVS workers, CNAs, case managers, and all the healthcare team members who make frontline healthcare possible.

Learn More

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