Following a deployment to treat the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, Major Milca Rosario returned to her West Hartford home after two months. She was called into active duty to join the efforts in treating the coronavirus pandemic at Javits Center makeshift hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
Major Rosario was assigned to the Urban Augmentation Medical Task Force 804-1. She worked on the frontlines to treat the pandemic and was responsible for a team of doctors and nurses treating COVID positive patients. She worked six days a week, 14-16 hours a day, in order to meet the need for staff and patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cI want to make sure my staff\u2019s needs are completely met,\u201d Rosario said. \u201cI made sure to go to the floor during the day, in the afternoon, and in the evening time just to make sure everything goes well for them. It is important they have support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
The Javits Center makeshift hospital was built to provide relief for New York Hospitals, as they were at capacity. The military hospital treated recovering patients from New York Hospitals, who were not in critical care but not well enough to be discharged from hospital care. <\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cIt was an honor and a privilege for me to go and help them,\u201d Rosario said \u201c And for my little grain of sand in helping others, I am very grateful for this opportunity. I learned a lot.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After becoming a nurse in her native Puerto Rico, Rosario moved to Connecticut in 1991, with her two children and worked as a registered nurse. She completed a Bachelor of Nursing in 2004 and a Masters in Community Health in 2014, from the University of Hartford. She joined the Army Reserve in 2001, after the tragic events of Sept. 11. <\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThat was something that I wanted to do since I was very young when I was in high school a lot of my friends, joined the military,\u201d Major Rosario said. \u201cAfter what happened there was so much need for medical personnel. This was a good time for me, I saw a need.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n
In her civilian role, Rosario oversees the clinical operations and clinical staff at the Retreat, the first urban-built affordable assisted living facility in all of Connecticut. She had worked as the Registered Nurse supervisor since April 2019, when Utopia Assisted Living was brought on to serve the needs of residents at the facility. She is the first Puerto Rican staff personnel in a leadership position in homecare.<\/p>\n\n\n
The facility has 100 units, and 25 percent of its residents are from Puerto Rico and other Spanish speaking countries. <\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cThe residents need to be heard and understood, when you can talk to somebody in your primary language, think about how respectful that is,\u201d said Heidi Lubetkin, CRT\u2019s Vice President of Clinical Support Services. \u201cMilca talks to them directly and the residents feel comfortable around her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
Lubetkin works side by side with Major Rosario at the Retreat. Lubetkin’s losing the major was something they expected but inconvenienced, she relied on Rosario’s dedication to the employees and patients for the smooth running of the facility. <\/p>\n\n\n
Major Rosario has worked with Utopia since 2007 and has worked at smaller facilities in the same role. Based on her working experience with Rosario, Susan Turturino, administrator at Utopia Assisted Living Services, knew the major would be deployed and had a plan in place to fill Rosario\u2019s role temporarily. With news of the pandemic regularly, Rosario worked to gather necessary medical equipment before her departure. <\/p>\n\n\n
\u201cI’ve never seen her stress, I’ve never seen her have anything that comes her way that will make her have any cause or alarm she’s very confident in a quiet way,\u201d Lubetkin said. \u201cShe is a great all-around leader. She is a phenomenal role model for the staff.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n