Academic Affairs Coordinator
Bridgepoint Active Healthcare

In the first months of the pandemic, several Sinai Health employees were redeployed from their usual roles to be screeners. In his new role, Roland de Vega helped ensure a safe environment by screening visitors and employees for COVID-19 symptoms, issuing masks and assisting patients.

“There was definitely a learning curve in the beginning. I had to help people understand that screening was a necessary part of the process that everyone had to go through, and that it wasn’t selective. But I think of myself as a people-person — I value being able to put people at ease or make them laugh. I drew on that skill set — making people feel comfortable, answering their questions and helping them understand this process is for everyone’s safety.

“In my role as academic coordinator, I don’t have as much opportunity to interact with patients, so screening helped make me more visible and present. I really enjoyed getting to know the patients; I was invested in their journey through the health care system, and was really rooting for them to be able to go home and end up in a place they wanted to be. I thought that was pretty cool.

“Bridgepoint is thought of as family- and community-oriented. That has been amplified during the pandemic as I watched my peers come together and lean on one another. I truly saw the willingness to work together and to act in the best interest of our patients. I hope donors and the community know that when people say Bridgepoint is a family, they absolutely mean it.”