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5 years of COVID in Kansas City

Five years ago today, instead of gathering for a festive St. Patrick’s Day parade, Kansas Citians were ordered not to gather in groups, and hospitals began to gear up for the biggest public health crisis of our lives. We look back at the first days of the pandemic through the eyes of a front-line nurse.

KCUR’s Nomin Ujiyediin spoke to Carrie Willis, a nurse manager at Saint Luke’s East Hospital in Lee's Summit. Willis ran the progressive care unit treating COVID in 2020 and 2021. She shares how the pandemic led her to disappointment and trauma, but also rekindled her love of nursing and helped her rediscover her own resilience.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Brian Ellison. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Lisa Rodriguez and Gabe Rosenberg.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate.

As a host and contributor at KCUR, I seek to create a more informed citizenry and richer community. I want to enlighten and inspire our audience by delivering the information they need with accuracy and urgency, clarifying what’s complicated and teasing out the complexities of what seems simple. I work to craft conversations that reveal realities in our midst and model civil discourse in a divided world. Follow me on Twitter @ptsbrian or email me at brian@kcur.org.
As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.
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