Oral history interview with Helen Reid
Title
Oral history interview with Helen Reid
Description
Helen Reid discusses her experiences as acting director of the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, they updated their surge plan and shifted from being a surveillance laboratory to acting as Vermont's only facility running COVID tests for the first 2-3 months of the pandemic. She explains how they went from testing twenty-five specimens per day at the very beginning of March 2020 to a daily volume of 1600 specimens by the middle of the summer 2020. Since this increase in workload put employees at risk of overuse injuries, she shares how they adjusted to improve the ergonomics of their testing procedures. She also describes daily conference calls with other state organizations and government leaders. As the pandemic progressed, efforts to support the mental health of employees were implemented. She reflects that one of their biggest challenges was the uncertainty of the pandemic. While the laboratory had ample PPE and negotiated with other Vermont laboratories when supply chain issues occurred, there was no "playbook" to guide their efforts.
Helen Reid assumed the position of acting director of the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory in Colchester, Vermont, after the retirement of her predecessor in October 2019. Prior to assuming this temporary role, she was a division director of health surveillance. At the time of this interview in 2024, she was the division director of laboratory sciences and infectious disease within the Vermont Department of Health.
Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-251676-OMS-22.
Helen Reid assumed the position of acting director of the Vermont Department of Health Laboratory in Colchester, Vermont, after the retirement of her predecessor in October 2019. Prior to assuming this temporary role, she was a division director of health surveillance. At the time of this interview in 2024, she was the division director of laboratory sciences and infectious disease within the Vermont Department of Health.
Sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-251676-OMS-22.
Date
2024-01-19
Subject
Source
Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project
Identifier
AudioFileCOVID-053
Format
MP3
WAV
Type
Audio file
Rights
Permission to publish material from the Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story Project may be obtained from the Vermont Historical Society.
Interviewer
Bosek, Marcia Sue DeWolf
Interviewee
Reid, Helen
Duration
46 min., 31 sec.
Repository
Vermont Historical Society Library, 60 Washington Street, Barre, VT 05641-4215
Collection
Citation
“Oral history interview with Helen Reid,” Digital Vermont: A Project of the Vermont Historical Society, accessed April 3, 2025, https://digitalvermont.org/vtcovid/AudioFileCOVID-053.