‘This is what I signed up for.’ Former Columbus soccer star now on front lines of COVID-19
Marshall Leonard is most known in Columbus as the soccer star at Brookstone and Shaw high schools who earned a scholarship at the University of Virginia and played six seasons in Major League Soccer for the New England Revolution.
But after retiring from his athletic career in 2008, Leonard pursued excellence in another field.
Now, he’s an emergency medicine doctor at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y.
That’s in Nassau County on Long Island, about 20 miles from New York City — the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. His 9-hour and 12-hour shifts have been filled almost exclusively by treating COVID-19 patients.
To share his pandemic experience with readers of his hometown newspaper, Leonard, 39, took time for a Q&A via phone and email with the Ledger-Enquirer. Here are excerpts from the interview, edited for brevity and clarity.
From when you first started seeing patients with COVID-19 in January until now, how have your hospital’s statistics changed?
“We only had a small number of respiratory complaints suspicious for the virus in late January, early February. We had to isolate these patients, and, if they were admitted, they remained on isolation until test results came back when we had tests for COVID, and this took days earlier on.
“Throughout February and into March, there was a marked increase in COVID suspicious patients and confirmed COVID patients. Test results were able to come back more readily, however still days to get results.
“Throughout March and into April, the entire ED was all COVID positive patients or those that presumed to be COVID positive, and thus we maintained full PPE (personal protective equipment) throughout our shifts. Our hospital did a great job by getting ahead of the surge, building more ICUs, hospital tents for quick evaluation and discharge and so much more, including PPE.
“Recently, there has been a decrease in the amount of patients coming into the ED. However, ICU admissions and deaths are still at a high level. With these complaints, however, we are uncertain what this may mean as far as the peak and possible decline of COVID virus.
“As of now, we still maintain full PPE during our shifts in the ED, and definitely I believe that social distancing should continue to be maintained at this point.”
Note: Mathew Foley, vice chairman of emergency medicine at Northwell Health, told the L-E last week that the hospital has approximately 500 COVID-19 patients, with about 1,100 having been discharged. Its admissions percentage increased from 30% to 45% in the past six weeks and its deaths have tripled compared to its pre-pandemic rate.
Is the number of coronavirus patients you’re seeing still ramping up, or are you past the peak?
“Everybody in the news is saying New York is at the peak and kind of starting to trend down maybe. We’re definitely getting the effect that there are less people coming into the emergency department. We’re having more discharges than admissions. So I think across the whole board, we’re having the feeling that we’re starting to kind of come down. But, personally, I’m really hesitant to say that, because I don’t think we really know that. We definitely encourage what we’re doing, things like social distancing. Because if we don’t, I think there’s going to be a big second wave.”
What’s been the scariest or hardest moment for you while treating COVID-19?
“The hardest part in the ED is that we see a lot of deaths, we see intubations, we see a lot of sickness. … The scariest part of dealing with this whole thing is that our hospitals are not allowing any families to come in. At the door, the patient comes in, we isolate them, and the family has to stay out. Even if they get admitted to the hospital, the family never sees them after they say bye at the door. That’s a huge change, and it’s very frustrating. So, people who succumb to their illness, their families are not there. We have to talk to them on the phone and say this is what’s happening.
“There was a time that I had a 20-year-old. He was a pretty healthy guy in general. His parents had to come in, because he was very agitated. He ended up having complications; he didn’t know he had diabetes. … We had to tell the family he had to go up to the ICU, and they couldn’t come with him. I had to tell them he was very sick. I had to tell them they could no longer be with their son.”
How do you deal with that mentally and emotionally?
“I lean on my support system, my family, my parents. My wife’s kind of rock solid. She’s a New Yorker. … I don’t tell her all the details. … We have three kids. We go outside and run around, and I try to understand what I can do and what I can’t do at the hospital. I can treat patients. I can try to reach out to the families and at least get them on the phone and tell them what may or may not be going on, because I would hate being outside the hospital and not knowing anything.”
When did you feel your effort made the most positive difference in someone’s life during this horrible time?
“So, last critical shift I had a patient with severe low oxygen levels — hypoxia. We try to prevent intubation by different techniques and medicines because we’ve seen that intubation has a poorer prognosis and sometimes patients are difficult or never come off the ventilator. I was in and out of his room constantly trying everything we could to prevent him from being intubated.
“Fortunately, we were able to help him, and we kept him on oxygen but didn’t have to intubate him during his emergency stay, and we admitted him to the medical floors. I spoke to his family — wife and four kids — and they were very grateful. Frustration is that I know that his medical course may change, but hopefully he continues to improve.”
What precautions do you take to prevent bringing COVID-19 out of the hospital and into your home?
“I try to disinfect myself as much as possible before I come into the house. I come into the garage and take all my clothes off and shower. I sometimes wait an hour or two to make sure my kids are asleep so they don’t come up to me until all that stuff is done. I leave my clothes outside for a couple days and then put them in the wash. Nobody goes into my car right now.”
How is your hospital doing with PPE (personal protection equipment) and your ability to have what you need to not get the coronavirus?
“We have what we need. We have the N95 masks and the gowns and the face shields. … The N95 masks are supposed to be used for a short period of time, but we have to use them for several days instead of several hours, basically. … You don’t get a new one unless they’re soiled.”
What do you think this pandemic will end up meaning to our lives?
“This is a monumental change in the way that we live our lives. Hopefully it’s not just all for the bad. Anybody who has lived through this will understand the importance of personal hygiene, washing hands, being cautious about sneezing, coughing. … On a personal level, I think my career will be defined by this. I think we’ll be wearing masks for the foreseeable future. We never did. Even respiratory stuff, we were right in the room and treated them as quickly as we could. We might have put a mask on after we saw them, but a lot of times we didn’t. And now, we’re fully protected.”
Has this crisis changed your career goals?
“No, not one bit. I want to be an emergency physician. This is what I signed up for. This is exactly what we need to be more proficient at. I’m happy to do the work I’m doing, even if it’s in something as scary as what’s going on now. … This is what we trained for, really.”
