Gallagher Home Health Services: Recovering from COVID and Stronger Than Ever

By Nancy Kennedy

Diane L. Karcz, R.N., executive administrator and owner of Gallagher Home Health Services, has been a proud longtime member of the nursing profession, with a versatile background in critical care, trauma and home health nursing. But she has never felt greater pride in nurses than she does right now. She credits America’s nurses with pulling the country through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I believe that it was truly the nursing profession that pulled the entire country through the pandemic. Nurses were the foundation, in the hospital and community; nurses got the job done, at great cost to themselves. COVID nearly crushed the nursing profession. It was a nightmare in many respects: the logistics of the pandemic were mind boggling. Scheduling staff, finding adequate equipment and personal protective supplies, and caring for so many very ill patients. Everything had to be done differently. People forget that, in addition to the COVID patients, there were other patients that needed to be cared for – people with heart attacks, post-surgical needs, and cancer treatment.”

Karcz says that the pandemic resulted in many nurses leaving their jobs, to find work-at-home positions such as case management or to care for children who were out of school. “Pennsylvania already had a nursing shortage and recruitment became very difficult. Higher patient acuity made things worse. COVID was unpredictable; things changed often and rapidly. It exposed the healthcare system and revealed weaknesses and flaws.”

For the past two years, Karcz says, the Gallagher staff was in COVID survival mode and are now in COVID recovery. “We are working to recreate our work culture, with a deliberate and creative effort. We have always had a family oriented culture and strong relationships with co-workers. We worked together and had in-person meetings, and that had to change during the pandemic. COVID pulled us apart. Nurses need each other. They need to have another nurse’s opinion, and consult with each other. They need the emotional support of their peers. This is easier to find in the hospital but home health can be isolating.”

To counteract that, Gallagher developed “pods” – teams of nurses and support staff to work together, caring for patients in small groups. This has been a success, Karcz says; it has increased patient and staff satisfaction, and reduced re-hospitalizations. “It has made a big difference. The staff is happier; there is excellent information sharing and peer support.”

In addition to work issues, there were personal challenges. “COVID brought much grief,” Karcz says. “We had staff who lost family members and friends. We lost staff due to childcare and other family needs. We had to support patients and families who were facing a lot of loss and grief. The most difficult aspect of this was dealing with people dying alone, critically ill and isolated from family. I feel that a greater effort could have been made to bring families into the hospitals to say goodbye to loved ones. I think we could have found a way to do that, safely. We let this happen and it was a mistake.”

Gallagher Home Health Services administrators were aware that everyone was suffering during the pandemic and they wanted to meet community needs. They developed a food pantry, Food for Families, stocked with the bounty of local restaurants and stores, to help neighbors and generate revenue for local businesses. “We view it as a whole: the patients, the staff and the community. We wanted to care for everyone, keep the community whole and give everyone a role.”

At Gallagher Home Health Services, the staff is again meeting in person and working as a team and family. “We didn’t miss a beat,” Says Karcz. “Nursing may be wounded but it is alive and well. Our entire organization learned a lot during the pandemic. We realized that a great deal can be accomplished remotely. We understood that our staff needed to include more tech-savvy people and more technology training. We gained a new appreciation for the value of teamwork. We learned that our greatest strength is our mission, and that no matter what, you never stray from your mission: patient first always, and treat people like family.”

Karcz states that while it is always important to celebrate Nurses Week (May 6 – 12), it has never been more important than it is right now.

To learn more about Gallagher Home Health Services, visit gallagherhomehealthservices.com or call 412-279-7800.