Coronavirus killed this Clinton County nurse. Her family says she died a ‘hero’
Judy Heimann loved being a nurse for elderly residents in a nursing home. She inspired young people to embark on a medical career. And she constantly had a smile on her face.
Those are just a few of the memories the Heimann family shared following her death on May 15 after being treated for COVID-19.
Heimann, 63, worked as a nurse at the Carlyle Healthcare Center, a long-term care facility that has reported 15 coronavirus-related deaths, including 14 residents. The center has had 55 residents and 28 staff members test positive for the virus.
In Clinton County, 16 of 17 COVID-19 deaths in the county, or 94%, are connected to nursing homes, according to the latest available statistics from state and local health officials.
The News-Democrat has been tracking the numbers of coronavirus-related deaths in long-term care centers in southwestern Illinois this year. Heimann is the first area nurse from a center whose death from COVID-19 has been confirmed.
“Every day she was working there, she’s a hero,” said Ed Heimann, her husband of 44 years.
“In my mind, my whole family, she is a hero,” Ed said, emphasizing the last four words.
The Heimann family also praised all of the other essential employees who have worked during the coronavirus pandemic along with doctors and nurses. They are thinking of people like cleaning crews, nurse assistants, grocery store employees, mechanics and delivery drivers.
Coronavirus spreads
Judy was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese on May 1 when she became sick and was transferred to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon the next day, Ed said.
The Heimann family praised the work of the medical staff at St. Elizabeth’s for their efforts during the coronavirus pandemic.
Medical workers across the nation and world have paid a heavy price during the pandemic.
The International Council of Nurses said this week that 600 nurses worldwide have died from COVID-19, according to a Reuters report. An estimated 450,000 health care workers have tested positive for COVID-19 across the world, the report said.
ABC News reported this week that over 25,000 nursing home residents have died nationwide as a result of the virus, according to federal statistics.
The federal information also showed that 449 nursing home employees such as Judy have died during the pandemic, according to the ABC News report.
The Illinois Department of Public Health reports that over 3,000 people in long-term care facilities statewide have died because of the virus as of Friday. And in southwestern Illinois, at least 130 persons in residential care facilities have died in the pandemic as of May 29, which was when the latest statistics were released by the state.
Deaths often occur in nursing homes because older adults with underlying health conditions are more susceptible to the virus, which can spread in congregate facilities where employees go from room to room, The New York Times has reported.
Judy’s family said she didn’t talk much about what was happening at the Carlyle Healthcare Center but noted that she was “worried” about the coronavirus when it first appeared this spring but that the center was working to handle it. Her family said they wanted to tell her story because they didn’t want her to become just a “statistic.”
The center’s administrator, Karla Diekemper, declined to comment. In a Facebook post on Thursday, the center said that 41 residents and 28 staff members have recovered from COVID-19.
While Judy was being treated at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the Heimann family members said they received constant updates from the hospital staff and they appreciate their round-the-clock care.
“The one nurse that told us actually cried with us,” said Shelly Heimann, who is Judy’s daughter-in-law.
Nursing career
Judy, who lived in Aviston, started out as a certified nurse assistant, or CNA, at the Carlyle Healthcare Center in 1989.
While working full time at the center and part time in a restaurant, she completed her registered nurse training at Kaskaskia College.
One of her three sons, Jim, remembers how his mother would make her schooling a family event. When she took her licensed practical nurse boards in 1992 in Carbondale and her registered nurse boards in 1994 in Springfield, the whole family - Ed, Don, Brian and Jim - would join Judy on her on the trips.
Judy, who worked at the Carlyle Healthcare Center for more than 31 years, would help younger members of the staff.
“She was a sounding board,” for her colleagues, Shelly said. “She was always there to listen.
“There was never a stupid question. She would rather tell you a million times the same thing to make sure you understood it than for you not to ask a question and not know how to do something.”
Judy won the Illinois Health Care Association and Long Term Nurses Association Minimum Data Set Coordinator of the Year award in 2016, for her work in the federally mandated process of assessing residents in nursing homes, Shelly said.
Judy also won the “I Make a Difference” Humanitarian Award from the Carlyle Healthcare Center in 1994.
Judy participated in a job shadowing program so youths could learn more about a nursing career and some of theme entered the field because of her mentoring, her family said.
Shelly said Judy was known as the “go-to” person for employees at the center.
Jim said if someone had to be called in to work unexpectedly, they would ask if Judy was working. If she was on duty, they would want to be there with her.
“They loved working with her,” he said.
Family memories
Shelly described one of her memories of her mother-in-law: “Always a smile on her face. Always. I mean she could be mad at the world but she had a smile on her face. She was always calm, cool and collected.
“She was a wonderful woman.”
Her son Don, Shelly’s husband, said his mother would always say: “It’ll be all right, it’ll be all right.”
And Jim said his mom would tell her family, “Everything happens for a reason.”
Ed and Judy liked to go camping and fishing.
Her sons laughed as they recalled how when Judy caught more fish than her husband, she let him know about it.
And when her sons would come to the house covered in dirt, she would tell them to go turn on the outdoor hose and spray off the mud before coming into the house.
Along with spending time with her family, Judy loved to make four or five quilts by hand each year.
Ed has a plan for the quilt that was partially completed before Judy got sick — he decided the family is going to learn how to quilt and finish it for her.
This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 11:31 AM.
