October 19, 2020 | less than a minute read

Healthcare Workers are the Most Essential of the Essential Workers

Michael Best

We have seen the signs: "Heroes Work Here" in front of many businesses. This article is about the people at one of Michael Best's clients, Aspirus in Wausau, Wisconsin. Aspirus' staff are front line workers challenged to save the lives of patients of all ages battling COVID-19. Much has been written about the shortage of hospital beds and intensive care resources, but the most valuable resource needed to care for sick patients is hospital staff: nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists, housekeeping, and many others.

Like many healthcare workers throughout Wisconsin and the U.S., they are working hard to save lives, asking for the public's help and trying to stay healthy themselves.

"I think the thing that's most painful for them right now, and most challenging for them, is while they're working their butts off — and they're working hard — it's the fact that they don't know if the community sees how serious this is," Heywood said. "They see the politicization of it, and then they see the repercussions of what's happening when they do their job every day. "And they're watching people die."