Last spring, Intermountain Healthcare sent dozens of healthcare workers to New York to support Northwell Health and other hospital systems needing assistance during the state’s COVID-19 surge. 
Now, Northwell is returning the favor by sending a team of caregivers to Utah – and with the help of an Intermountain trustee, they’re receiving an exceptionally warm welcome.

As president of Influence Relocation, a corporate relocation company that routinely welcomes newcomers to the Beehive State, Intermountain Research and Medical Foundation trustee Rob Corcoran jumped at the opportunity to extend hospitality to the Northwell crew. At their first-day orientation on Monday, Rob and his colleague Shawn Bair distributed welcome boxes to the volunteer caregivers from New York, filled with restaurant gift cards, Utah Olympic Park passes, activity guides, and more. 

Influence Relocation president and Intermountain Research and Medical Foundation vice chair Rob Corcoran (far right) gives the “hang loose” sign as he presents a Utah welcome kit to Northwell visiting caregiver Shmuel Kramer, RN (center). They’re accompanied by Corcoran’s colleague Shawn Bair.

The Northwell caregivers, who will be working 12-hour shifts to care for COVID-19 and non-COVID patients at Intermountain Medical Center, were delighted. “It’s incredibly generous and completely unexpected,” said Shmuel Kramer, a Northwell cardio-thoracic ICU nurse. “I love the gifts and the activities we can do are so appreciated. They will help us get our minds off the stress and difficulties we’ll be facing the next several weeks.”

“It’s the least we could do for these wonderful people, given their willingness to leave their families and the comforts of home,” said Corcoran, who serves as vice chair of Intermountain Research and Medical Foundation (IRMF). “We had to do something to show our gratitude.”

In a press release from the Governor’s office, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “I thank Governor Herbert and all the people of Utah, and as I've said on behalf of New Yorkers, we won't forget and we will do for them what they did for us, because that's the American way."

Intermountain isn’t currently experiencing a surge of COVID hospitalizations, but the Northwell caregivers are coming to support IMC’s ICU teams as they cross-train with our thoracic ICU team, to enhance our ability to provide ECMO care for cardiovascular patients. This allows our ICUs to treat both severe COVID-19 and non-COVID cardiovascular patients—and we’ll have a more highly skilled team of ICU nurses to care for our sickest patients, both COVID and non-COVID, in the future.