Saint Mary's Newsroom

Colleen Joyce ’10 and her husband Joe Haynes ’09 say they wonder regularly which one of them will contract COVID-19 first.

They know, deep down, the question is ultimately more of a “when” than an “if.”

Joyce, an RN2 who works at Rush University Medical Center in downtown Chicago, and Haynes, a fire fighter with the Chicago Fire Department, are on the front lines of the pandemic, and frequently come face-to-face with the highly infectious disease.

“Every time we get out of the fire truck, we never know what we’re about to walk into,” Haynes said.

“It’s very worrisome. I come home to her and she comes home to me, and we work in the fields most affected by it. It’s always in the forefront of our thoughts. But it’s the job we signed up for. We know that we’ve got a job to do, and we try to do it the best we can and stay optimistic and hope it ends as quickly as possible.”

“We’re both taking extra precautions,” Joyce added. “We wash our hands a thousand times a day. I always wear a mask. I don’t think there’s such a thing as too many precautions. Neither of us can go to work if either of us gets it. And we don’t want to stay home; we want to be out there.”

The couple, who married about a year ago, met more than 11 years ago as undergraduate students on Saint Mary’s Winona Campus. They share an obvious a affinity for Chicago, for their two dogs, for (the late and great) Father Andrew Fabian of the Philosophy Department, for their alma mater, and for helping others.

Joyce majored in biology, knowing from her days of being a nanny that she wanted to work in the medical field; Haynes majored in English, went into the military, and became a prosecutor for the city of Chicago before joining the fire department nearly a year ago.

“I knew in college that I wanted to go into public service,” he said. “I knew as a firefighter I would also be able to still practice law and would be able to help two-fold. I joined the re department just in time for this national crisis, so I’m able to put my money where my mouth is.”

In mid March the couple completed a whirlwind tour of Europe, returning just two days before President Donald Trump suspended international travel because of safety concerns. Their jobs changed instantly.

Joe Haynes ’09 is a member of the Chicago Fire Department.

Haynes sees patients on the front end, responding to 911 calls and serving as a trained emergency medical technician. He and others on the truck respond to everything from gunshot wounds to emergency transports. In spring, he began seeing a lot of people who had COVID-19 symptoms who called 911 because they were having difficulty breathing.

If the patients are taken to Rush, there’s a possibility they will end up in Joyce’s COVID-19 unit. Joyce also serves as a clinical instructor for the hospital nursing program, and she recently transitioned into an interim director position — shortly before COVID-19 arrived in Chicago. “I got thrown into this madness,” she said.

When patients arrive via ambulance, after being admitted, they wait in her 32-bed unit (one of two the hospital established, in addition to multiple ICU COVID units). If they are negative, they are sent to another unit. If they are positive, they stay, unless they require intensive care.

“We monitor them very closely because it is a respiratory condition,” Joyce said. “We have a really good team on my unit who really took this on and has been very resilient. I feel like we’re learning from each patient. I’m so proud of how my staff has responded. It makes me proud to be a nurse and to work with them.”

Though days are long and draining — and having to quarantine themselves from the family they love has been an added emotional strain — the two find ways to remain positive. For Joyce, it’s about watching patients recover (like one patient who went back and forth from her unit to the ICU twice but is now home quarantining and doing well). “Seeing so many people recover gives me hope that we’re taking the right steps and going in the right direction,” she said.

She also described the overwhelming support Chicagoland businesses have shown her and other healthcare workers — by providing food, gift cards, and other gestures — as amazing.

For Haynes, it’s about how everyone has put aside their differences to get through this crisis together. “It’s lending perspective,” he said. “In this political climate, people are putting their differences aside. We’re all in this together, and we’re trying to get through this together, and that’s a bright spot for me.”

And, they enjoy coming home to each other and their two dogs, Lucy and Layla. “They are so excited when I walk in the door they make me forget about what I see every day,” Joyce said.

“They’re the best therapy.” They also give thanks for the technological advancements that allow them to connect virtually with friends and family, including the supportive friends they made at Saint Mary’s.

“My years at Saint Mary’s with Colleen were the best years of my life so far,” Haynes said. “We’ve made lifelong friendships, we had inspirational teachers, and when that day comes, we’ll encourage our children to attend Saint Mary’s.”

Photo caption: Colleen Joyce ’10 at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

As an Army Reserve medic, Sgt. Chuck Thibault ’21 is trained for trauma situations in battle, things such as gunshots and explosions.

He never dreamed he’d be working 12-hour shifts battling the coronavirus in the epicenter of this pandemic. But when he describes his work, which can be tiring and challenging, the words he chooses instead are rewarding and meaningful.

The junior criminal justice major from Shoreview, Minn., joined the Army Reserve nearly three years ago out of a desire to help others and a love for his country.

This spring he joined the more than 900 service members who were mobilized to combat the pandemic. In April, he and others in the 807th MC (DS) COVID-19 Army Reserve medical response team arrived in Edison, N.J., to work at a convention center converted into a make-shift hospital.

Thibault worked the night shift, where he helped to treat COVID-19 positive patients who were transferred in from other area hospitals.

The facility, he explained, was established to provide overflow care, take some strain off local hospitals, and provide needed relief for area medical personnel. Sgt. Thibault said he and other medical staff watched their patient numbers increase quickly. He estimated he personally saw about 20-30 patients each day, many of whom only spoke Spanish.

“I’ve taken many years of Spanish, and luckily I paid attention in class,” he said.

“I was able to ask them if they had pain or if they would like anything. I could tell them I was going to take their temperature. That was all really helpful because I would have been scared if I were them.

Sgt. Chuck Thibault ’21

“First they got sick with this virus, and when they came to our facility, everyone was all dressed up in personal protective equipment (PPE) so they couldn’t really see our faces. We tried to be friendly with them and put them at ease and conversed with them to get them as comfortable as we could.”

Located just 45 minutes from downtown New York City, Sgt. Thibault said he knew he was working in the epicenter of the pandemic. As he’s young and healthy, he worried less for his own personal safety than for those he worked with.

At the start of his shift, he carefully suited up in his PPE. Should he need to use the restroom or get a drink, he had to carefully remove his PPE, sanitize, and wash, and then dress in new PPE before re-entering.

Patients transferred to his facility were typically on oxygen but were relatively stable. “We gave them medications and tried to wean them off of oxygen,” he said. “They didn’t need to be in the ICU, but they weren’t ready to go home yet either. Our goal was to get them stable and healthy and then discharge them.

“It was a good feeling to get people out of there. You knew you were making a difference. The best part was knowing you were there helping people in an area where they really needed it, so it was very rewarding.”

Sgt. Thibault said he’s grateful to Saint Mary’s for allowing him to take a leave of absence and still complete his studies. And he was grateful for being able to virtually talk to friends and family back home. “I’m not really one to get down easily,” he said. “I knew it would be worse if we weren’t there, so it was easier to put it all into perspective. Someone had to be here, and I’m glad it was me and the others I worked with.”

It was difficult, he admitted, to not know how long he would be stationed so far from home. “The unknown can be daunting, and the whole situation was and is unknown,” he said. “I knew there were people back home doing well, and I know that this will all be over eventually. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

Thibault ’21 is trained for trauma situations in battle, things such as gunshots and explosions.

“It was a good feeling to get people out of there. You knew you were making a difference. The best part was knowing you were there helping people in an area where they really needed it, so it was very rewarding.”

Sgt. Thibault said he’s grateful to Saint Mary’s for allowing him to take a leave of absence and still complete his studies. And he was grateful for being able to virtually talk to friends and family back home. “I’m not really one to get down easily,” he said. “I knew it would be worse if we weren’t there, so it was easier to put it all into perspective. Someone had to be here, and I’m glad it was me and the others I worked with.”

It was difficult, he admitted, to not know how long he would be stationed so far from home. “The unknown can be daunting, and the whole situation was and is unknown,” he said. “I knew there were people back home doing well, and I know that this will all be over eventually. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

Photo caption: Chuck Thibault ’21 at work in a make-shift hospital in New Jersey.  

Princeton Review has once again listed Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in its “Best Midwestern” category within the “2021 Best Colleges: Region by Region” report.

Princeton Review evaluates 655 colleges they consider academically outstanding, as well as worth students’ consideration, in four regions of the country. These 655 colleges, 158 in the “Best Midwestern” category, constitute just 23% of the nation’s four-year colleges. In addition to academic excellence, Princeton Review weighs what students attending the schools reported about their campus experiences.