A Personal Thank You to Anna Harris, One of Our Own
A Personal Thank You to Anna Harris, One of Our Own
These unprecedented and uncertain times have presented a challenge for many families across the globe for the last few months, and the pressure on frontline staff is clear to everyone. Healthcare workers in particular are going far above and beyond their normal roles, working tirelessly to protect and save the lives of their patients. Many healthcare workers have been forced to make agonising decisions because of the COVID-19 pandemic - stay at home with their loved ones, or move out into isolation so they can still go to work whilst keeping their families safe.
Spotlight on Anna
Anna is the daughter of Bruker's Global Head of Sales, Henry Stronks, and works as Charge Nurse at Peterborough Regional Health Center's (PRHC) designated COVID-19 inpatient unit.
At the age of 36, Anna Harris is one of the youngest nurses in Canada to be the charge nurse at a COVID-19 inpatient unit. Despite the huge responsibility and sacrifice of tackling this highly contagious virus head on, Anna insists that PRHC is extremely well equipped and on top of managing the pandemic. She takes heart from the many positive stories of patient recovery.
PRHC and Trent University Partnership
As a mother to three young children, aged seven, five and one, Anna's main priority is to keep her family safe. Anna was looking into options that would allow her to isolate away from her family, when the partnership between PRHC and Trent University was announced. The partnership has made individual residence rooms available for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Anna was one of the first PRHC employees to move into Gzowski College residence. Making the decision to isolate away from her family was understandably not an easy one, especially with so many unknowns in regard to how long the virus will last and the changing expert guidance and restrictions. After careful consideration, Anna knew that moving into the university residence was the best decision for her and her family.
The Importance of a Solid Support Network
This has, understandably, been a difficult time for Anna and her family, particularly for Anna's husband who is caring for their three young children alone. However, Anna's father and mother, Henry and Diane, have been able to take some time off from their jobs to assist as needed. The option for Henry to take some time off from his duties at Bruker has meant he is more available to help and support his family, doing simple things such as shopping, which would otherwise be impossible for his son-in-law with three children who need to stay home.
Here at Bruker we pride ourselves on a positive working culture. The safety and health of our employees and their families comes first, and we strive to provide support to the wider community through this crisis. We are all extremely proud of Anna, and we'd like to personally thank Anna, and all frontline workers, for the huge sacrifices they are making to deliver support to all of those in need.