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Three Flyers provide health care together during COVID-19

Three Flyers provide health care together during COVID-19

Lauren Durham ’22 April 13, 2020

During a Sunday rotation at OSU Wexner Medical Center, three UD alumni posed — 6 feet apart — for a picture.

It wasn’t long until the UD community sent messages of well wishes and gratitude via Twitter.

Mark Rastetter ’02, Pat Dyer ’14 and Katy Anderson ’15 are on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. Rastetter, an associate program director of family medicine residency, was excited when he saw that two of the residents on rotation that day were fellow Flyers and suggested they take a picture in-between rounds.

While the alignment in their schedules was happenstance, it could not have come at a better time.

“With all of this craziness happening, and to have your fellow Flyers on service with you, there is always a nice sense of camaraderie there. It kind of helps bring some normalcy to things and some comfort to the situation,” Anderson said.

The colleagues are, of course, Flyer fans through-and-through and couldn’t help but notice how different that Sunday could have been.

“We never would have predicted that we would all be on the same day taking care of people during this pandemic instead of watching the basketball team in the Elite Eight,” Dyer said.

In this time of great uncertainty, the colleagues discussed the ever-changing conditions in the hospital. While family care professionals already serve patients with a wide array of needs, the pandemic has only added to the list of demands. Their previous conversations with insurers and health care organizations about how to offer progressive care through means such as virtual visits are now helping lessen foot traffic in the hospital, Rastetter said.

“By reducing people coming in, we can make more room for people that actually need to be coming in,” Rastetter said. “One of the things with this pandemic is it has pushed that agenda forward immensely.”

As medical residents, Anderson and Dyer are filling in where necessary. The entire medical community is supporting one another — both on and off rotation.

“There are medical students at Ohio State right now who are not on their rotation, so they are actually volunteering their time for childcare, grocery shopping, chores, things like that,” Anderson said.

The colleagues expressed that while a global pandemic was unexpected and disastrous, it has made their callings to serve only grow. All three medical professionals credit UD for planting seeds of service, social justice and intentionality.

“I knew I wanted to be integrated into the community, and I always knew I wanted to do family practice because it does allow you to be fully immersed into the community,” Anderson said. “The University of Dayton definitely was a place that fostered that desire to serve and really helped me continue on that path.”

While the colleagues were surprised at the number of responses their Twitter post received, they were familiar with the messages of love and support from the UD community.

Dyer said, “No matter the age, it’s good to see that Flyers always stick together.”

After all, that’s what families are for.


 

More Flyer family

mom, dad and three children, all in UD Flyers outfitsAnd because we can't pass up the opportunity to show a cute Flyer family picture, here is Mark Rastetter ’02 and Mary Popelar Rastetter ’05 with their three children, all showing their Flyer pride in March.

Mary Popelar Rastetter ’05 penned a love note to her beloved Flyers men's team:

From tiny screens on a hotel floor to big ones in a bar,
With dear old friends or 13,000 new ones, we’d watch every game near or far.

 

Charleston Southern was our first date night out after baby number three,
Since that wild night in Maui, our Dayton flag has waved for all to see.

Our screams woke the kids after
Crutcher’s buzzer-beater,

Obi’s dunks were like nothing we had seen,
this season was one for the record books, we even made it to the big screen!


Our kids are small but know all about raising the roof and Obi,
they learned to spell DAYTON through the cheer, and they just love Rudy.

For now, we’ll let our hearts mourn the loss and how we missed March Madness, but someday when we think about this season, there will only be much gladness.

We never miss a chance to dress up in UD gear, and we will do it all again....next year.

To the best season at the best place,
Flyer faithful, forever

 

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