Tamartha Harrison has worked as a housekeeper at Roper St. Francis Healthcare for 8 years.
Last October, Berkeley Hospital Chaplain David Hudspeth talked with Tamartha, noting that she had been off work for a few weeks. Tamartha explained how she had been having difficulty breathing from her pulmonary fibrosis, which was diagnosed in 2015. Additionally, she had dealt with rheumatoid arthritis since 2003 and had managed to control both conditions well for several years.
Then she contracted COVID in 2020, and her doctors confirmed that COVID combined with those two underlying health issues damaged her lungs. By late last year, Tamartha began to have breathing problems. She has been on oxygen ever since, using a portable oxygen machine that utilizes a battery pack, including when she is at work. This is necessary, she explains, as her oxygen level would otherwise drop when she moves around.
Chaplain David swung into action, checking into Roper St. Francis Healthcare’s Teammate Assistant Fund. Tamartha’s rent payment, electricity bill, and $600 in medical expenses were paid by the fund. Additionally, Katie, a Med Surg nurse at Berkeley, and Alexis, Unit Secretary, discovered that Tamartha had need of an additional battery pack for her portable oxygen machine. That way, she could simply switch to the second, fully charged battery pack instead of waiting a long time for the first one to charge.
The Teammate Assistance Fund covered the new battery pack, too. Tamartha laughs, recalling it all.
“Some of my teammates went behind my back to see if the Teammate Assistance Fund could help me,” she says. “I had no clue what was going on. Then they presented what the fund could do for me. I have some amazing co-workers! They helped me out a whole lot.”
Along with her son who lives nearby, she cares for her 11-year-old grandson.
The support she received from the Teammate Assistance Fund, especially for the new battery pack, enables her to keep working, for which she is quite thankful.
She notes how grateful she is to everyone across the system who gives to the Teammate Assistance Fund. She recalls donating to the fund before, but didn’t know how it was used. Now she’s seen personally where it goes and its positive impact on teammates.
Tamartha delights in telling how her Berkeley Hospital teammates went the extra mile for her, following what the Teammate Assistance Fund had provided.
“Let me tell you what a wonderful group of people I work with,” Tamartha says. “They had a complete Thanksgiving dinner delivered to my house for my grandson and me. They took up money on their own for that.”
They also got into the holiday spirit and gave her an early Christmas gift--a basket of gift cards for stores and restaurants worth.
“I was so touched,” says Tamartha. “I’m so thankful for my teammates, you just don’t know.’
Thanks to your generosity, the Teammate Assistance Fund can provide many teammates like Tamartha the help they need to get through a difficult time in their lives.