In March of 2020, uncertainty hit Colorado in the form of the coronavirus. There were few who understood the impacts an infectious disease might have let alone remain calm in the face of the oncoming storm. Longmont United Hospital had a secret weapon with experience in infectious diseases both professionally and personally, Orji Okereke.
“For as long as I can remember I have always been very, very curious about health care,” Okereke said.
Okereke grew up in Nigeria where Malaria is commonplace.
“It was something you would get every month. It wasn’t something you went to the hospital for,” he said.
Even as a young boy, he remembers enjoying taking care of his family members when they were sick which eventually turned into a pursuit of medicine.
“I’ve had my fair share of involvement with outbreaks and infectious diseases, so all this experience has spiked my interest in public health and population medicine,” Okereke said.
This interest led Okereke to come to the U.S. and gain a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Texas in Fort Worth. Shortly after graduation, Okereke found a job with LUH where he manages the infection prevention program.
“I find ways to prevent infections among patients, staff members and people who come to the hospital setting,” he said. “That’s why when the pandemic hit I was ready … I brought my knowledge and everything I had known through my education and through my experiences in Nigeria and Africa here and use all the knowledge I have to fight this pandemic.”
Okereke was working in the medical field when the ebola virus broke out in Africa in 2014. It was the training and hands-on experience with this virus that prepared Okereke for the twists and turns the coronavirus would bring.
His first focus, however, was not to fight the virus itself but to turn to the people around him and see how he might be able to support them.
“My first experience with ebola, I didn’t feel like we had support. We didn’t know a lot then and there was no one to tell us what to expect,” Okereke said adding his first effort was to begin educating people and preparing them what to expect from an outbreak.
More than education, it was important to Okereke to comfort others and let them know that “everything will be alright,” he said adding that following the proper guidelines, precautions and practices, together the team could get through the pandemic.
Okereke researched best practices and shared those as well as his own experiences with nurses and other frontline staff to educate them on how best to prevent the further spread of the virus within the hospital. These efforts resulted in zero cases of the virus being passed to patients thus far, Okereke said.
“It was something new to everyone … even though it was new, the basics of the pandemic are to not let people worry or be afraid and to support them and share best practices with them,” he said.
Okereke says he has always been fascinated by infectious diseases and how these tiny viruses can change our lives. The pandemic has shown how large an impact a virus can quickly change the lives of people across the globe.
This fascination has grown Okereke’s curiosity about global health and how to improve health care globally. While he plans to continue fighting the coronavirus on the frontlines at LUH for now, in the future he hopes to take what he has learned over the last year and a half and looking into how people’s health can be better protected while traveling.
