Samsung Hospital staff vow to remain by patients' sides even if it means risking their own lives

A picture of the words "We will stay by our patients' side until the end" scribbled by a nurse on the cafeteria message board at Samsung Hospital has gone viral on social media after being uploaded earlier today.

The words demonstrate the perseverance and resolve of the hospital staff to remain next to the patients even in the most difficult of times.

Ever since news leaked that Samsung Hospital was the place where the MERS virus initially metastasized, there had been countless calls from patients canceling their appointments for outpatient visits and inquiring whether they can seek treatment elsewhere. One patient even called in to ask, "...I don't feel comfortable going there today...do you mind just sending the medication to our home?" Nurse A, a worker who had been employed at Samsung Hospital for over ten years, told the patient regrettably, "Legally, it isn't possible."

Nurse A told Yonhap News, "After the MERS outbreak occurred at our facility, not only are there fewer visitors but we are also understaffed due to the many workers being isolated," conveying the hardships the hospital staff are facing.

The headcount in the ward that nurse A works at has decreased from 25 to 20. In the adjacent ward, which originally had 20 staff members, there are now a mere 5 workers. Nurses were not the only ones to be isolated and ushered into quarantine. Many doctors have also been segregated from the rest of the staff. The number of staff in the surgical department was reduced to nearly half and doctors in the infectious diseases division were also isolated.

Nurse A further explained, "Outside the hospital, everyone knows that I'm a nurse at this hospital so I avoid any outdoor activities. When my own brother won't let me come see my nieces, I feel like I've turned into a massive block of germs."

A doctor from Seoul's government-operated isolation ward, Dr. Choi stated, "It's not simply doctors and nurses that look after patients; everyone, from those who operate the facilities, radiologists, to even the cooks are all working to the bone," emphasizing the hard work of healthcare workers of all ranks.