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Burnout and exhaustion 20 months into the coronavirus pandemic are powering the state's hospital staffing shortage, not the requirement that all health care workers here be vaccinated.
Strain on medical employees during the COVID-19 pandemic has been harsh.
Dating back to March, personnel at Pueblo's Parkview Medical Center have been tasked with treating patients who've died from complications of COVID-19 — a virus that's been responsible for more than 385,000 deaths in the United States.
Much of the work done by medical professionals has masked off-the-clock challenges. Families of medical employees have dealt with several hurdles like unemployment, troubled finances and struggles to keep food on the table.
Fellowship of the Rockies has partnered with Parkview to ensure employees are given support. The two have introduced food trucks, owned by local vendors, to the company's parking lot from 5 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday for an eight-week period. During the stint, they'll randomly distribute free meal vouchers to 150 employees per week, totaling 1,200 free meals — with the donation provided by the Fellowship of the Rockies.
The Christopher Columbus Statue in Pueblo's Mesa Junction was shrouded Friday with a large banner reading "TAKE IT DOWN."
The banner was one of a few set by a group of activists in honor of Rita Martinez, a dedicated community organizer and Chicana activist who died Dec. 10 after battling COVID-19 at Pueblo's Parkview Medical Center for 14 days.
Her funeral was Friday.
"It looks like some people wanted to commemorate my mom, Rita Martinez," Vicente Martinez Ortega said. "(Friday) is the day of her funeral and some folks wanted to commemorate her in their own way."
Martinez was best known as one of the most vocal leaders in the three-decade fight to abolish the Christopher Columbus holiday in Colorado — a battle that was won earlier this year when Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill replacing Columbus Day with Mother Cabrini Day.
Friends and family said she was the mother figure to many and an inspiration to most she knew.
Rita Martinez, a dedicated community organizer and Chicana activist, died Thursday after battling COVID-19 at Pueblo's Parkview Medical Center for 14 days.
She was 65.
Her daughter Neva Martinez Ortega, and sons Tomas and Vicente Martinez Ortega, remembered their mother, who they called an inspiration, Monday during an interview with The Pueblo Chieftain.
“We’ve heard so much from so many people who have thanked us for sharing our mother with them. She was a second mom to so many people since her Boys and Girls Club days, and her work with so many more organizations and movements,” Neva said.