Local care facility honors health care workers with hundreds of new shoes and backpacks

POCATELLO — A local nursing facility recently gave away thousands of dollars of athletic shoes and backpacks to employees as a way to honor its health care workers.
Gateway Transitional Care Center in Pocatello held a barbecue Friday, May 19, and gave away around 170 athletic apparel items, worth over $15,000. Executive Director Gavin Monteath said after their health care workers spent three long years “on the front lines and going to war” with the COVID-19 pandemic, they deserved to be appreciated like this.
“These amazing health care workers have been on the front lines of COVID since this pandemic began and worked through some of the toughest conditions and regulations,” Monteath said. “They’ve worked these front lines with some real grit and determination to take care of these patients in our building.”
Gateway Transitional Care Center is a temporary residence for patients undergoing necessary medical rehabilitation. The barbecue coincided with National Skilled Nursing Care week, and all the employees gathered in Gateway’s courtyard to celebrate.
Healthcare workers had options on what kind of athletic gear they would receive. The choices were between Under Armour running shoes or a Nike backpack. Gateway partnered with BSN SPORTS to bring this athletic apparel to Gateway health workers.
In trying to describe what it was like for health care workers to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, Monteath said it was ‘unimaginable conditions.’
“It was a war zone,” Monteath said. “We legitimately went to war with a pandemic. There were times where it was really hard where there were nurses and CNAs working hours upon hours upon hours, me and some of my leadership team sleeping in the building.”
Brooke Burt, the Assistant Director of Nursing, said the pandemic was an “all hands on deck” situation.
“It tested your ability to do a lot of things,” Burt said.
Burt said everyone pitched in during the pandemic and worked hard to take care of patients and at the time they didn’t realize it, but they had no one call out during that period. She said that this was “unheard of” before the pandemic.
While they were going through the pandemic, Burt said she thinks people didn’t realize how hard it was until the worst of it was over. She said what kept them going through that time was the need to take care of their patients.
“We made it,” Burt said. “It didn’t break us.”
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Source: eastidahonews.com