You're listening to shortwave from NPR.

About a year ago when the pandemic hit the United States, Dr. Argovan Salas was working

as a researcher at Stanford University.

Salas is a surgeon but wasn't practicing medicine at the time.

But seeing the need for more doctors in New York City, she flew there in April of last

year to volunteer her time at a hospital working in the ICU.

Now remember spring of 2020, it was still the early days of the pandemic and New York

was the first city in the United States to be hit so hard.

All my feelings and thoughts were dominated by far by the people dying.

There wasn't much in terms of treatment for COVID-19 at the time and the number of people

getting hospitalized and dying was climbing fast.

Almost every day, for almost every patient, I'm calling saying there is no improvement and

maybe things are worse.

Right from the start of the pandemic, healthcare workers have stepped up beyond what many

of them were trained to do.

So to say that this past year has been stressful for them is an understatement.

For me, I think it's mostly been anxiety.

I think that I've had definitely tendencies toward depression and I have seen a therapist

in the last six months or so.

A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Washington Post found that about six

in 10 healthcare workers are struggling with mental health issues as a result of the

stress of the pandemic.

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