The state of California ranks eighth in fatality rate, according to data by John Hopkins University, with 2,217 deaths as of Monday. California had a total of 54, 924 confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients.

Beginning last month, the Dominican Hospital stopped accepting patients, excluding pregnant women admitted one at a time, as a mitigation measure to limit the transmission of the coronavirus.

The nameless donor left a note to the hospital, thanking the staff for standing up to care for the community. It concluded, "This human kindness is what makes you heroic."


Team Thanks Donor

The staff at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, California, are expected to receive bonuses for one year, with the full-time employees receiving $800, and the part-time employees receiving $600. This is not exclusive to medical staff, because it includes even the technicians and the janitors and security guards.

Dr. Nanette Mickiewicz, President of the Dominican Hospital, attributed the donation to their employees' excellence and dedication to their clinical work.

The hospital's nursing supervisor was of a like mind, hardly believing that a stranger's generosity could be a gift to share among everyone in the staff, including the people who did the cleaning, delivering, and fixing.

Amy Loudon acknowledged that there were so many people who were keeping the hospital running its operations. She called it a team effort, and that she was glad that the whole team "is getting a thank you."

On April 7, the Dominican Hospital's last update was that they had ample supplies and equipment for the management of COVID-19 patients and that they were continuously looking into the supplies at the facility. They added that the safety of the patients and the medical staff remained their highest priority.


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Hospitals in Dire Need of Financial Aid

Hospitals in California have lost as much as $14 billion for the suspension of discretionary procedures to prioritize COVID-19 patients. The hospital association asked state legislators to approve the $1 billion for financial support.

Member of the Legislative Analyst's Office Ben Johnson believed that the federal government and private sector have already begun to "alleviate some of the financial hardship." The federal budget has allocated almost $3 billion for California healthcare providers.

California Hospital Association President Carmela Coyle said in an interview that they emptied the state's hospitals in anticipation of a healthcare crisis.

The average losses that California hospitals suffered are between 20 percent to 30 percent, with an even higher percentage for rural hospitals, Coyle said.

She also acknowledged that postponing some procedures was the right thing to do at the time of the pandemic. She added, "But as we begin to access the damage, the toll is enormous. ...Hospitals are desperate for cash."

Even the $3 billion is not enough to compensate for the losses. The best they can do is wait until the regular operations resume, which might be a year or two from now. From the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci would put it once "things fall in the right place."

Coyle said that they would do what they can to keep the hospitals running, while at the same time plugging in the expenses. For that, "We will need the state's help."