145: Dr. Bumni Ojikutu
Chair of Pediatrics, Reading Hospital
Dr. Bumni Ojikutu is the Chair of Pediatrics at Reading Hospital. When the pandemic first hit, Dr Ojikutu worked hard to pivot quickly to get health care access for the children of Berks county. Dr. Ojikutu helped to implement telemedicine utilization, educating physicians and providers on how to use the technology and parents on how to help physicians examine their children via video. She divided pediatric offices into sick and well offices, her staff sometimes even started seeing children outside since Covid was found to be less contagious when people are outdoors. The inpatient pediatric physicians that are in Dr Ojikutu’s department worked with very ill hospitalized children that had Covid and other diseases. Many children suffered from MISC, a very severe sequelae of covid, that made them extremely ill, often putting them in the ICU. This turn often took parents by surprise, as kids would frequently be asymptomatic from Covid and then suddenly fall critically ill a week later. Dr. Ojikutu feels extremely fortunate that no children in her Department's care died of Covid or MISC.
As this was an unprecedented time, there was incredible sharing of data, stories, and lessons learned between physicians all across the country. Dr. Ojikutu worked all day with her patients, and then spent her evenings late into the night doing research on these forums. This was an exhausting time, and she was writing and re-writing protocols as more knowledge evolved about Covid. Additionally, Dr. Ojikutu was advising school districts, day care centers, churches, and other community organizations on their protocols as things closed down and then again upon re-opening.
Dr. Ojikutu noted that she has a new found respect for all health care workers, her colleagues, and all essential workers who put their own health at risk to take care of others, especially when PPE was scarce. It was humbling and deeply moving for her to see what people did to keep things going. She has great admiration for teachers who had to quickly adapt to online teaching platforms, and she was amazed and impressed by the essential staff who balanced young kids at home doing online school while continuing their own work outside of the home.
An epiphany came for Dr Ojikutu when she realized that everyone, in all fields, was figuring out how to function during the pandemic. We were all starting fresh, with no real experience or touchstone for what was happening. She intentionally started everyday trying to give grace to herself and to others, knowing we were all in uncharted waters together. Dr Ojikutu’s wish for the future is that people could trust each other more in times of crisis, being less polarized and fractured. She hopes that when the next challenge comes along we will be able to think beyond our own desires and be dedicated to the common good. She hopes that we can learn to disagree, yet still have grace with each other and pull together as a community.
