Parking lot prayers greet ‘health care heroes’
Jessica Dawson Smith could hear honking from inside the hospital. By the time she clocked out and exited Memorial Hermann’s southeast campus, the noise had intensified.
Dozens of cars packed into the parking lot. From every direction, strangers waved and shook their homemade signs. Some leaned on their horns. Others flashed their lights.
A minivan drove by slowly, parade-style, with streamers hanging from its sliding doors. “Healthcare heroes” was painted on the window.
Like any millennial, she whipped out her phone and recorded the scene. Dawson Smith posted the video on her Facebook page with the caption, “Honking for us at shift change. I’m not crying, you’re crying.”
“It was so unexpected,” said Dawson Smith, a nurse who works in the neonatal intensive care unit. “I was brought to tears by all these people who were here for us. It was really cool to witness that, and feel that love and support.”
Her 12-hour shift starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 7 p.m. “It’s scary what we do, having to go into work and basically risk your life,” she said. “Some of my (co-worker) friends who have children worry about potentially giving that to their families. It’s a lot.”
Tensions are high for health care workers tasked with serving their communities during COVID-19. That’s why Jamie Suarez, an intensive care unit nurse who’s currently on maternity leave, organized Prayer in the Parking Lot.
“I’m heartbroken that I can’t be there with my family,” Suarez said of her Memorial Hermann co-workers. “They are my family. We’re very, very close.”
She got the idea from Facebook. Tailgate-inspired parking lot parties are trending across the country.
“I contacted KSBJ to host a segment for us where they played prayer and worship music. They also gave shout-outs to the doctors and nurses while we sang, prayed and practiced social distancing.”
Suarez estimates that more than 400 people from Grace Community Church, Sagemont Church and Clear Creek Community Church participated, between four medical campuses: Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital, Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital, HCA Houston Healthcare Clear Lake, and University of Texas Medical Branch Clear Lake Campus Hospital. West Conroe Baptist Church hosted an event Friday for medical workers at HCA
Houston Healthcare Conroe.
“Doctors and nurses came out and just watched in awe. They were so grateful.” Suarez said. Healthcare workers started bringing their own signs to thank supporters for their prayers.
When Chris Seay, Eccelsia Houston’s founding pastor, was asked to lead a service for the medical team setting up NRG Stadium’s temporary hospital, he thought it would be a onetime thing.
“But then they said, ‘That’s what our crew is going to need everyday,’” he said. Seay couldn’t turn the invitation down.
“This is a group of crisisresponse experts from literally across the globe. They have a shift change in the morning, followed by a daily huddle,” he said.
“I tried to figure out a way to do it with technology, but it’s better for me to be there. So I’m there to share a word of encouragement, simple truths and how to work well together each day.”
He arrives every morning by 6:30 a.m. On the way, he stops at Chacho’s Mexican restaurant to pick up a large breakfast taco order for medical staffers.
“They’re the kind of people who are just going to do what needs to be done,” Seay said. “They’re finding ways to cohere as a team. Everyone is remarkable, courageous and positive, though I’m sure as this goes on, there are going to be much more difficult days.”
He met a nurse from Nashville, Tenn. who plays the “high/ low” game with her family each night. “They share the best and worst parts of their day with each other. I was her best part. It’s a gift to be able to do that for someone.”