Local resident Nancy Wright submitted the following nomination to West Virginia Living Magazine’s Hometown Heroes contest,
The team of Jackie Huff, administrator of the Hancock County Health Department, and Kathy Dray, R.N., school nurse supervisor and head of the LPN program at the Rockefeller Career Center, was nominated for the West Virginia Living’s Health Care Hero award for their work during the COVID crisis .
“Jackie was faced with a huge challenge when COVID hit our community, adding not only the virus but all the uncertainties that come with it. The first goal was dealing with all the businesses and ensuring that they remain safe for their patrons, plus following all the CDC guidelines and making sure those guidelines were met and carried out,” wrote Wright. “One of the biggest challenges was the reopening of our schools. Hancock County has two high schools, two middle schools and three elementary schools. The student population is approximately 4,000 students. The Health Department has five employees so it was then that Jackie realized she needed to rely on volunteers, nurses and health professionals for help in order to get the vaccines in arms. Kathy Dray, RN, BSN, head of the Practical Nursing program at the Rockefeller Career Center became part of the team at that time.”
“Teamwork through Jackie and Kathy has provided our community with clinics to conduct testing, educate our community through their website, Facebook and the media while keeping count of the number of isolations and quarantines in our schools and community, and then setting up vaccination clinics. Volunteers from nursing students, Hancock County Schools, Office of Emergency Service, CHANGE, Inc, and community health volunteers helped tremendously with this effort.”
“The teamwork of Jackie Huff and her staff and Kathy Dray and her volunteers and her preparation, has been phenomenal!! These two have gone above and beyond their duties as health care professionals. Sleepless nights, time away from family and more is what they have done for this community and both felt it was something they knew they had to do no matter what the challenges,”