Read the CBS2 News story here.
Dr. Josh Mugele is no stranger to being on the front lines of a health threat. He was volunteering in Liberia in 2014 when the Ebola epidemic started to sweep West Africa.
And now the emergency room doctor at Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville has traveled more than 800 miles to Metropolitan Hospital in New York City, the nation’s epicenter of the fight against COVID-19.
“Very eager to serve. I want to be useful. Lots of us are feeling that now, especially those of us not at the epicenter of this right now,” Mugele said in an interview with CBS2 News, the CBS affiliate in New York City.
Mugele was named program director for the Medical Center’s emergency medicine residency program in November. He came to Gainesville from Indiana University School of Medicine, where he was the assistant residency director for the Department of Emergency Medicine for four years.
Dr. Mohak Dave, CEO of Georgia Emergency Department Services and Chief of Emergency Medicine at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, said hospial officials were supportive of Mugele's desire to serve in New York.
“The choice Josh made to serve in New York is courageous and admirable," Dave said. "We certainly have a responsibility to the Northeast Georgia region, first and foremost, but we looked at our roster of physicians and determined this wouldn’t compromise our ability to care for patients locally. In fact, we’re in constant communication with Josh – and he is providing info that can help us further prepare in our community. We wish Josh the best while he’s away. We know he’ll make a tremendous positive impact, and we hope he returns home safe and healthy – for his family, his patients and us.”
Mugele told CBS2 News he volunteered to serve in New York through the Society of Critical Care Medicine. He said he has seen videos and heard the stories of what frontline health care workers are enduring. And he wanted to help.
“Exhaustion, colleagues getting sick, seeing a lot of devastation. I think that was the impetus for a lot of people to go there, want to help out our colleagues in New York,” Mugele said.
Mugele told the TV station he plans to spend several weeks in New York City. But he hopes he’s able to bring back the things he learned there to help at NGMC.
“Whether it’s how to reuse PPE, or how to deal with shortages, or just how to manage vents or other technical issues that might come up that I’m not even aware of,” he said.
