Detroit News Editorial: Take care of those who take care of us

This editorial was originally published in The Detroit News. See the full story here.

While support and appreciation for health care workers is flowing freely on social media, it’s not enough to simply thank those putting their lives on the line for their service. They need to be tangibly rewarded as well.

To that end, part of the money from stimulus packages should be used for hazard pay and bonuses to health care workers risking their lives to save the sick and dying.

As a country, we’re taking generous care of workers who have lost their jobs. The $2.2 trillion stimulus package passed last week included $1,200 payments to many individual Americans plus a weekly $600 unemployment check for those who find themselves out of a job. It also included $350 billion in small business loans and $500 billion to big businesses.

Compare that to the $150 billion the package provided for hospitals and health care facilities for equipment and supplies. That’s not enough.

It’s not asking too much to also take care of the people who are working around the clock to combat this crisis.

It’s true that our first commitment ought to be ramping up production of personal protective equipment for hospital use. 

We can’t go many more days hearing complaints about nurses and doctors not having proper mask, gloves and gowns. That’s got to end now. And it’s good to see the industrial machine is ramping up to address this shortage.

But it can’t stop there. Even after we’ve provided health care workers with adequate protective gear, we have to pay attention to their mental health and their families.

In short, we must do anything extra we can find to make these heroes feel appreciated and to make their risk worth while.

Let’s take care of our caretakers.