TULSA, Okla. — As shots rang out and panic set in on that day, one thing that remained certain was first responders and health care providers were not going to turn their backs on a community that needed them.
2 News spoke with Dr. Cliff Robertson, the president and CEO at Saint Francis, about how his staff was able to continue doing their jobs in the face of fear — then and now.
"You had mentioned it can be human nature to turn your back and walk away, but that, you wouldn't do that. Can you tell me how you were able to process that in that moment and how you are able to convey that now to your entire hospital?," 2 News asked.
"There were saint francis nurses and physicians and support personnel that showed up for work even the day after we went through what we went through. I think when I said that, just what I felt was, sometimes it's human nature to just want to withdraw after a bad experience and not take the chance of facing it again," Robertson said.
Dr. Robertson says the hospital has a faith-based mission to exist and care for others and they will continue to care for and serve their community. He says he understands the fears staff may have, which is why, since the shooting, he has begun a weekly unscripted blog that is sent out to staff.
The intention is to connect with the folks he doesn't see every day and he asks those with questions, thoughts or concerns to reach out to leadership so they can address those.
"I think being open to that kind of conversation has helped because people know that they are being heard and that, as I said, many of the things that we might of thought in the moment really are contrary to our ability to make it easy for us to care for people, so there is this balance that our whole system has to find between security and our ability to care for patients," he said.
Dr. Robertson says one year later, they may not have all the answers when it comes to preventing such a tragedy, but they will continue to remember June 1 by honoring those who lost their lives and those who continued to serve despite the fear.
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