120: Dimas Cortez

Dimas Cortez is a nurse practitioner who works at Berk’s Community Health center. He acts as a primary care provider for the underserved community in Reading, doing acute care visits as well as managing long term patients with chronic diseases. Dimas’s role shifted greatly when he had to start conducting telemedicine visits for the first time. When he did see patients in the office, it was always in more PPE than he was used to, masks, gowns, and face shields.

Dimas did contract covid, and knows about 30 other people who were also infected and fortunately recovered. However, the reality of Covid hit home when Dimas saw patients struggling to breathe. He was devastated when he saw one patient’s 39 year old husband die from Covid, leaving her a single mother of three. The pandemic has really made Dimas realize that tomorrow is never promised. He tries his hardest now to make the most of each day, and he remains hopeful for life to return to normal.