Athens Messenger: O'Bleness Adapts and Thrives Throughout the Pandemic Thanks to Dedicated Staff and Community Partnerships

The COVID-19 pandemic was challenging for hospitals across the country.  This includes large city hospitals as well as smaller community hospitals.  Recently, the Athens Messenger spoke to Mark Seckinger, president of OhioHealth O’Bleness Hospital, about how the regional hospital was able to adapt and thrive throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The article explores the hospital’s challenges and highlights how a dedicated staff, strong community partnerships and the OhioHealth system helped them care for the community throughout the past year. As the pandemic worsened, O’Bleness was able to quickly respond to the changing landscape in southeast Ohio, adding new safety measures, testing services, therapies and vaccination clinics and intentionally focusing its attention on associate wellbeing.

The commitment and resilience of the hospital’s associates played a major role in O’Bleness’ ability to weather the storm. “They are just unbelievable caregivers,” Seckinger told Athens Messenger editor Kaitlin Thorne. “I owe a debt of gratitude and so does the community.”

Having spent a year implementing new protocols and services to help respond to the pandemic, the hospital is now looking toward the future—but associates won’t forget the lessons they learned. “I think the biggest thing that we’re going to take away from this and continue is to be prepared for any emergency,” Seckinger said. “Knowing that things could change and be different in a split second.”

To read the full story, click the Athens Messenger logo below.