I posted over the weekend that I'm heading to NYC to work in an ED during this pandemic. I had a lot of responses from people calling me a hero.

I appreciate the sentiment, but it makes me kind of uncomfortable (and not because I'm a humble person)

/1

I got similar accolades after spending a few weeks in Monrovia, Liberia at the beginning of the Ebola epidemic. I was able to fly back to the US while two of my Liberian colleagues that I worked closely with continued in their hospital and eventually died

/2

Part of the reason that it's uncomfortable getting accolades for volunteering is that I'm doing so little while the nurses, doctors, and other healthcare workers in NY have been doing the heavy lifting. I simply hope I can provide a little relief, give a little assistance

/3

I also feel uncomfortable calling doctors and nurses heroes during these remarkable times because we didn't have to be in this position. We wouldn't have had to make such extraordinary sacrifices if we'd been better prepared for the pandemic

/4

Don't get me wrong -- healthcare workers are heroes every day -- for facing the pain and suffering, for sacrificing their own mental wellness, their family lives, and much more. For working with victims of gun violence, poverty, chronic illness, mental health...

/5

But the reason they're risking their lives for their patients today in such alarming numbers is a remarkable failure of our system to plan for this pandemic. It's a failure of our leaders to plan and listen to experts and to respond in a decisive and timely manner

/6

It's a failure of our healthcare systems to be adequately prepared, to take care of our most vulnerable.

/7

It's a failure of our society that we are scientifically illiterate, that we don't trust experts, that we have a huge wealth gap, that we have so many vulnerable populations -- prisoners, homeless people, immigrants, people of color, uninsured -- who will suffer the brunt

/8

The reason we are requiring heroes -- those who are making extraordinary sacrifices during this pandemic -- is that our system is broken and that we've had epic failures in our leaders and our society leading up to this point. It's not something to celebrate

/end