The newly minted “River Road Testing Lab” at LSU’s School of Veterinary Medicine has at its helm a McGehee alumna. Baton Rouge-based pathologist, Dr. Beverly Ogden ’75, is the lab’s new director. Ogden was recruited to the lab from the Baton Rouge Woman’s Hospital.

“It is a whirlwind out here!” she shares. Ogden's team developed a federally approved test that can generate coronavirus test results within 24 hours. “I am just a small cog in an amazing wheel, but am honored to be a part of it. These scientists are unbelievably smart and talented...it is humbling to be around them.”

The Advocate recently featured the lab for its revolutionary advancements in coronavirus testing.

On March 20th, Blythe Craft was deployed from her work as a pulmonary nurse practitioner at Ochsner. She was reassigned to a Cardiac Medical Intensive Care Unit that is now exclusively dedicated to the care of COVID-19 patients.

“The work is brutal, you must be able to physically care for the needs of the patients whose bodies are unable to function and then you must also become their brain, using the titration of medications to help keep their blood pressure, heart rate, and respirations in a safe zone- as this virus affects everything.

"McGehee women are doers. I volunteered to go back to the bedside even before my official reassignment. I am no Clara Barton, but I knew I could be of use and despite the terror of it all, know that this is where I belong for now.

Nursing is not glamorous. It is dangerous even on a good day. Yet I don't know what else I would do with myself, especially in times like this.”

Dr. Betty Penick is the Director of the Division of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Much of their hospital has ceased operations for everything but essential services. However, Dr. Penick and her team of 19 PhD psychologists have rallied to offer a series of supportive and consultative services to the University and hospital personnel on the frontlines.

“Everyone working within a hospital setting has been affected in a profound way by the epidemic, which has taken such a great toll on our people. Our support has been well received.

As a 1952 alumna of McGehee’s, I am pleased and proud to report the efforts of our Psychology group.”

Dr. Melanie Sheen is an oncologist with Touro/Crescent City Physicians, who is still treating cancer patients daily. “As oncologists and oncology nurses, our job is to make sure to take care of and protect our patients, who are especially vulnerable, from this virus,” she shares. “Cancer does not wait and we continue to fight along with our patients. We're thankful for all the frontline workers, many of whom are our colleagues and friends. We're all taking this a day at a time.”

Loni Ice has been working tirelessly as a farmer during the pandemic, only taking Sundays off here and there for relief.

Agriculture is one of the essential industries according to the Department of Homeland Security. Wilson owns and operates Nashira Farms, producing food for the community, and is continuing to work as a farrier and large animal vet tech. She is qualified to work stockyards and her farm produces goat milk and goat milk products for those intolerant of cow’s milk, in addition to eggs and vegetables.

“The farmers and ranchers of the United States are still out here working to put food on everyone’s table. We do it happily.”