Alden Terrace of McHenry
Apsara Rosario, assistant director of nursing at Alden Terrace of McHenry, which provides short-term rehab and skilled nursing services, was 13 when she immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti. After high school, she found herself living in San Diego, a military wife and mother of three. When her family returned to Chicago, she enrolled in nursing school to follow in her mother’s footsteps.
She’s thankful for healthcare opportunities here. “When I was a child, I only went to the doctor once,” she recalls. “People [in Haiti] don’t have the opportunity that I had, coming here to this country.”
By April, the first staff member had gotten sick, and the virus spread. At the peak, some 13% of patients and 30% of staff were ill. Rosario treated patients, called sick staff members every day, communicated with worried families, and argued with hospitals, begging them to keep Covid-19 patients longer, as too many were being released to rehab and then relapsing.
Looking back, she believes that long-term care communities were hit hard, not only because of the patient population, but also because they’re medical facilities but don’t have the same protective equipment and specialists that hospitals have.
Nevertheless, Rosario stepped up to help her community battle Covid-19. “This was a war,” she says. “I felt like a soldier, and I had a responsibility.” However, like every great leader, she refuses to take credit. “Everyone’s voice was important,” she insists. “We all became one.”
Originally published in the Fall 2020/Winter 2021 print issue. Photo by Jim Vondruska
Ronit Rose is a freelance writer, based in Chicago. She has a special interest in health, healthcare and preventive medicine.
