Troy Dalphond
Coronavirus patients treated by Merrimack Valley and Boston healthcare workers will most likely cross paths either directly or indirectly with Northern Essex Community College students or alumni.
From the healthcare technicians who take a patient’s temperature and blood pressure to the phlebotomists who draw blood, the respiratory therapist who operate the precious ventilators and nurses who administer and oversee care, to the paramedics and EMT’s who care for and transport patients, NECC’s alumni are on the front lines hoping to tame the scourge that is COVID-19.
Northern Essex’s reach doesn’t end with direct patient care. Public health workers assist in disseminating news and best practices during a pandemic, lab technicians processing tests, and criminal justice majors enforce mandated closings and social distancing.
Alum Treats Boston Patients
Alumni like Troy Dalphond who graduated from NECC’s respiratory care program in May of 2019, are selflessly working with the critically ill. He now works at Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston as a respiratory therapist.
Dalphond says, “It’s scary. It’s intimidating. Even though we are in the a pandemic. I wouldn’t change anything. I would not ever want to leave my team. We are making a positive impact.”
Hospitals Recruit Students
Jennifer Jackson-Stevens, NECC’s program coordinator of the respiratory care program, said hospitals are “adding student positions” to their staff. After respiratory care students successfully complete their first year in the program, they can apply for a student license and work in a hospital setting.
“Right now, pretty most of my senior students are working as therapists under their student license,” Jackson-Stevens said.
A working respiratory therapist herself, Jackson-Stevens has been contacted as to when she can go back on the schedule at the Boston hospital where she works perdiem. Hospitals are hiring, she said.
NECC currently offers more than two dozen health programs including direct care and business healthcare oriented certificates and degree programs.
NECC President Shares Appreciation
“No other time highlights the need for exceptionally trained health care workers as when an epidemic or pandemic strikes,” says NECC President Lane Glenn. “We are proud of the hundreds of students and alumni who put their own wellbeing at risk to care for so many.”
For additional information on NECC’s health care programs visit our website.
