[PHOTOSTORY 4: STRUGGLE] Viviant Healthcare of Hanahan

By:Nicholas Quarterman

Viviant Healthcare of Hanahan is a low income retirement and rehabilitation facility. It is located in Charleston, South Carolina.

An exterminator is signing in to spray for bedbugs. The facility has had problems in the past but are now trying to stay on top of it.

Vicki Williams has been working with the company for two years now. "We are very understaffed but that is not our patient's fault. So I just come in and do the best that I can"

Most of the workstations are left unmanned. More than half of the staff has left since Covid.

Jessica Lewis is a part-time social worker who often steps in to help the nurses out. "I love helping out the elderly and getting close to them because I never had grandparents"

More than half of the gathering areas are empty due to low staff. Residents often times get the short end of the stick due to this issue.

Jessica Lewis talks to the residents often to keep their hopes high. "Residents families sometimes dropped them off and forget about them, so I do my best to make them feel important"

The help lights can be seen from almost every other door. With only two nurses manning three halls it can take a minute for the help to come.

Jessica Lewis is helping out a resident who spilled her dinner on herself. "These residents will try to flag down anybody who walks by because they have been waiting for so long"

Jessica Lewis is getting fresh linen for the resident who spilled dinner herself. "Though a lot of people would not do this type of work I feel like the Lord truly sent me to this facility".

Jessica Lewis is changing the sheets for the resident who spilled dinner on herself. "I do this because I honestly care for the residents"

The facility barely gets enough funding that it needs. To the right are rooms they have been sealed off for months because of water damage.

The facility is in dire need of renovation. Most of the wallpaper are held together by staples and tape.

Residents are entitled to three meals a day, however the kitchen staff are the ones to call out the most. The staff that does come in try their best to make sure the residents get their meals.

Sherry Thompson is picking up her DoorDash order. "If I wait for the kitchen staff I'll be waiting all day and I'm hungry RIGHT NOW"

Words of affirmation are posted all throughout the facility. It is a way to keep staff and residents in good spirit.

 David Henry has been waiting for a nurse to take him to therapy. "Sometimes they come, sometimes they don't it just depends on the day".

Jessica Lewis happily takes David Henry to therapy. "The nurses always come to take them to therapy, it is just up to the patients if they want to go or not".

Jessica Lewis is trying to comfort a patient who just arrived over the weekend. "Residents are often times not happy to be here so I do whatever I can to make it a smooth transition".

Jessica Lewis checks on some of the residents before heading home. "They are like my babies so I have to make sure they are taken care of before I leave."