'Crisis mode': National Guard members deployed in Akron hospitals share their experiences

When patients at Cleveland Clinic Akron General’s Emergency Department are sent to a triage room, it’s possible one of the first health care workers they will encounter is Ohio National Guard Spc. Eli Schleret.

Schleret, 23, a medic from Groveport, is usually clothed in the same medical scrubs as other health care workers at Akron General, but he is a new addition.

More: Akron-area hospitals, state struggle to treat a COVID spike that 'shouldn't be happening'

He’s one of 105 Ohio National Guard members who have been deployed since before Christmas by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to Akron General and Summa Health’s Akron City and Barberton hospitals. Another 30 guard members have been stationed at the collaborative COVID-19 testing site at Summa’s corporate headquarters, run by workers from area hospitals and the National Guard.

More than 2,300 members of the Ohio Air and Army national guards have been activated statewide by the governor to relieve the pressure on hospitals, mostly in Northeast Ohio.

Additional members have been deployed as more testing facilities across the state open. The 30 guard members at the Summa site, which announced it will close next Sunday due to decreased demand for testing, will be redeployed to southern Ohio, where cases are increasing, according to Summa.

More: Summit County drive-thru COVID-19 testing site closing due to decreased demand

Schleret has been in the National Guard for 3½ years but never fully deployed. He’s been on shorter COVID missions since 2020, including testing, giving vaccinations and helping in a nursing home.

When he isn’t deployed, Schleret works as an EMT for a private company in Columbus.

The work is slightly different since he’s used to caring for patients in the back of an ambulance instead of aiding in an emergency room. At Akron General, he’s been taking vitals, doing bloodwork and helping nurses with patient care.

“We've been getting to do a lot of patient care. It seems like both the staff and the patients have been really receptive to us. The staff obviously seems very thankful for our help,” Schleret said in a phone interview.

Patients may not know Schleret or others are part of the Ohio National Guard unless it comes up in conversation, he said.

“Once they find out we're in the guard, they're usually interested and also appreciative that we're here,” he said.

Local deployment

There are 40 guard members at Akron General, including 10 medics and 30 in general support such as cleaning, food services and transport, said Capt. Jayme Aksterowicz, the guard public affairs officer for the joint task force overseeing the hospital missions.

Summa has 10 medics at Akron City Hospital and 50 in general support. There also are five medics at Barberton Hospital and 30 at the Summa testing site.

The clinical service members deployed are all military medics who have EMT-basic certification and additional medical training, said National Guard spokeswoman Stephanie Beougher.

“The skill set of a military medic isn't transferable to just one position in a civilian clinical setting but rather spread out amongst three to four different positions,” she said.

The Ohio Department of Health and Ohio Hospital Association evaluate the situation to determine where to send the National Guard members, Beougher said.

Deployment orders for the members are subject to change, according to the needs of the mission, Aksterowicz, of North Canton, said.

A service member may have gotten an original deployment of 60 days, for instance, but “the situation is ever changing and fluid. At the end of the day, we are here until we are done,” he said.

Earlier this week, President Joe Biden ordered more military personnel to hospitals in six states, including Ohio. Cleveland Clinic Akron General spokesman Joe Milicia confirmed 20 Air Force doctors would be coming to the Cleveland Clinic, likely to the main Cleveland campus, sometime next week.

More: Biden deploys medical teams to states, including Ohio

All guard members deployed to hospitals are vaccinated. But DeWine and the head of the Ohio National Guard have both expressed frustration that a large number of Ohio Army National Guard members cannot be deployed because 56% are fully vaccinated and 11% are partially vaccinated, as of Jan. 7. That is up from 53% a few weeks ago. Ohio Air National Guard members, which had a COVID vaccination deadline of Dec. 2, have higher rates of 91% fully vaccinated.

More: Gov. Mike DeWine: 'Not happy' with Guard's vaccination rate as units deploy for hospitals

The Ohio adjutant general, Maj. Gen. John C. Harris Jr., has moved up the vaccination requirement date for the Army National Guard from June 30 to March 31 to be able to deploy more members.

'Ohioans helping Ohioans'

Several of the guard members deployed in Akron hospitals are serving close to home.

Spc. Stacy Puzines is from Columbus but lives in Cuyahoga Falls, Senior Master Sgt. Eric Tanko is from Wadsworth and Sgt. Julia Prebonick is from Akron.

Puzines, 22, specializes as a motor transport operator of large military trucks and equipment. When she’s not deployed, she works as carpenter.

Puzines arrived at Akron General on Jan. 3 and has been helping deliver food to patients and transporting patients when they are discharged.

“I've never done anything like this before, working with community,” said Puzines, who has been deployed to help with hurricane relief in Florida and for Biden’s inauguration. “All the staff members, doctors, nurses, security — everybody in the hospital is very happy that we're here.”

Puzines said she’s proud to be an “Ohioan helping Ohioans."

"Being a part of the guard, that's our big thing," she said. "We want to help out the community.”

Tanko, 42, is in charge of a team of 10 guard members helping with housekeeping, food services and transporting patients at Akron City Hospital.

A four-year veteran of the U.S. Army and 15-year veteran of the Ohio Air National Guard, Tanko has had several overseas deployments including in Iraq, Africa, Panama and other missions in the United States.

His team usually specializes in construction and engineering, so they are doing very different work from their normal expertise.

“I would say we're the best fit for the mission right now because we're available and we're willing to help,” he said of the team that arrived before Christmas.

“I'm doing a lot of mopping, I'm emptying trash ... I want to get rooms turned over as fast as I can so they can get more patients in,” said Tanko, whose civilian job is working in wastewater treatment for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District.

Prebonick, a medic with the Ohio Army National Guard, has been helping in the Akron City Hospital Emergency Department since before Christmas.

The emergency rooms have been pretty much full with a full waiting room, so “hectic is kind of an understatement sometimes,” said Prebonick, 24.

She and other guard medics have been helping the nursing staff with patient care, including taking vitals and doing blood draws and nose swabs for COVID-19 testing.

The average person may think such tasks as getting warm blankets or helping to reposition someone are "simple," Prebonick said.

"It's a big deal to the nurses because it helps them," she said. "There have been patients that maybe have a difficult time eating, and so it's easy for us to go in there and help somebody have breakfast or dinner while the nurses do other things."

The hospital is the first deployment for the six-year veteran, whose civilian job is recovering eligible tissues from organ donors for LifeBanc.

Being deployed in her hometown, down the street from the University of Akron, where she graduated, is special.

"To actually work within my community and help out the people that are in my city as well ... really puts it all in perspective,” she said. “This is why I signed up to do what I did, and it's really rewarding.”

Hospitals grateful for help

Leaders at Summa and Akron General say they appreciate the help from the National Guard members.

Dr. David Custodio, president of Summa Health’s Akron and St. Thomas campuses, said the hardworking National Guard members "have been instrumental in aiding our employees with patient care and providing essential services in our facilities."

“Summa Health, like the majority of health systems across the nation, has been in crisis mode with increasing COVID-19 cases causing a strain on our resources and employees," he said. "When Gov. DeWine announced one month ago we would be receiving assistance from the National Guard, we breathed a sigh of relief — knowing help was on the way and that we could better care for our community in need."

Jonathan Sanchez, emergency department nurse manager at Akron General, agreed the National Guard members "have been a tremendous help."

"We greatly appreciate their support here at Cleveland Clinic Akron General," he said. "Their assistance has helped our caregivers support the community and its medical needs during these challenging times.”

Titus Wu, a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, contributed to this report. Beacon Journal staff reporter Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ. To see her most recent stories and columns, go to www.tinyurl.com/bettylinfisher.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ohio National Guard members talk about serving in Akron hospitals