Providence Holy Cross staff formed a profound connection with a terminal patient when the family was unable to visit due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Mary “Candy” Smith, 90, was nearing the end of her life at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills and loved ones made plans to bring her home.

Until then, COVID-19 health restrictions prevented the family from visiting. Candy didn’t have COVID-19.

A “Get To Know Me” poster from Providence helped bring the nursing staff, Candy and her family together, forging a profound human connection even during a time of patient isolation and social distancing, according to Patricia Aidem from Providence.

“The poster put a face, a personality, a history to who mom was as a person,” said Candy’s son Steve Smith, a former pro baseball player and MLB coach. “It made a huge difference for us that the nurses got to know mom. This was a grand slam idea.”

Because the posters deliver patients from anonymity, they also help reduce moral distress and caregiver fatigue for medical teams, particularly at hospitals such as Holy Cross, which is currently experiencing an unexpected surge of COVID-19 patients, according to Aidem.

“They’re such wonderful people,” said attending nurse Leah Phillips of the Smiths. “They feel like family.”

Providence printed 6,000 posters for the system’s 51 hospitals across seven Western states, and made digital versions freely available in Spanish and English. The posters complement “Face Behind the Mask” badges nurses and other caregivers can wear, showing what they look like behind their masks.

Candy died at home, surrounded by loved ones. The last words she heard were from her husband telling her he loves her, Aidem said.

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