To the editor:

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon in an Urgent Care room in the New Ulm Medical Center with my mother. Earlier, the nurse and caretakers at Ridgeway on German contacted me that they were concerned about my mother’s health, so I took her to Urgent Care.

Fortunately, she did not have COVID, but she did have other health concerns that needed attention. I watched as I saw how thin the staff was stretched to their limits. Even though, they were caring and pleasant, trying to meet my mother’s needs as efficiently and quickly as they could.

I can’t imagine working a long shift wrapped in a plastic gown, gloves, a face mask, and a face shield carrying out all their duties as they normally would.

Thank you to the nurses, doctors, specialists, receptionists, lab technicians and all other workers at Ridgeway on German and at the New Ulm Medical Center. We all should appreciate all that you do to help take care of us.

PLEASE help the medical care workers and your family and neighbors by following the CDC guidelines like:

WEAR a mask, WASH your hands, AVOID groups, and STAY home if you feel sick.

The vaccines may be coming, but we still need to do our job to protect ourselves and others.

Christmas may need to be celebrated differently this year, but let’s do what we can so we can celebrate with families sometime next year without masks.

Marion Klimmek

New Ulm