Capital Division colleagues support North Carolina sister facility after Hurricane Helene

From left, Jorie Matijevich and Nyema Sayed reconnect in Asheville after Hurricane Helene.

For Nyema Sayed, regional vice president of human resources at HCA Healthcare Capital Division, answering the call to visit Mission Hospital was personal.

"I was Mission Hospital's human resources (HR) vice president, so I was familiar with the hospital and very connected to the community," Nyema said. "I went to school in Asheville. So, it was not a faceless community to me. And, of course, once you've been in a hospital, you can't take away that connection to it. So, those people become your people. My peer there, Jorie, had not been able to get in touch with her family or leave the hospital to check on them. So, my primary driver was to get down there to relieve her as soon as possible and support the teams."

After arriving in Asheville and seeing the devastation in the community, Nyema felt immense relief and joy seeing her former hospital colleagues at Mission. During her nine days in Asheville, she helped relieve her HR colleagues and locate and check on all of the health system's colleagues in the region. She also helped coordinate the setup of markets, fuel trucks, Hope Fund tables, water stations and additional colleague support resources.

"It was Care Like Family a million percent,” Nyema said. “We had group leadership sleeping on cots. We offered tree removal services for colleagues. People were driving out and picking up colleagues, gas and food. And we heard the incredible stories of patients who wouldn't have received care and colleagues who would not have made it through that kind of disaster without that response."

"I've worked for this organization for 11 years, and it was one of those moments when it just completely reaffirmed the power of our organization," Nyema continued. "People weren't talking about how much things cost. That wasn't even on the table. It was, ‘What do we do? What is the right thing to do? How do we show up, and how do we show up in a big way for our colleagues?’ It was incredibly humbling and inspiring to see the way that our organization and team showed up for our colleagues and patients. And the Mission team did an amazing job; it was a privilege to be just a set of helping hands there. It was inspiring, and I felt very grateful to be a part of it."

From left, Jenna Mirabelle, RN, and Chelsie Portlock, RN, transport meals to colleagues and patients at Mission Hospital following Hurricane Helene.

Chelsie Portlock, an operating room registered nurse first assistant (RNFA) at Portsmouth Regional Hospital in New Hampshire, was ready to help when she learned about the destruction Hurricane Helene wreaked on the community. Chelsie said, “I had no idea what to expect, but I showed up and asked, ‘What can I do to help?’”

“We met so many colleagues, patients and visitors that lost completely everything," she continued. "Some watched their loved ones and pets get swept away.”

For Chelsie, being a part of disaster relief meant leaving her ego at the airport and staying open to any work. Chelsie explained, "All tasks were of equal importance. Our mission was to stabilize and support the community impacted by the disaster and do whatever it took.”

And she did. Chelsie helped deliver hot meals, visited patients and gave the core medical staff meal breaks. Chelsie even worked on the ambulance as a critical care nurse. She spent six days in Asheville, working 12-hour shifts each day.

“We also spent time visiting with patients who no longer had people to visit them. Spending time with these and other patients, listening to their stories and putting a smile on their faces — that was probably my favorite thing we did,” she said.