Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch, “Nurse Beka”SUMMARY: Nurse Beka Copley, with CHH Home Medicine in Huntington, West Virginia, is the only general practice health care provider for many in Lawrence County, Ohio, a rural area along the Ohio River in the southernmost part of the state. Her patients, homebound and often elderly, rely on her weekly visits to manage their health conditions. She works exclusively in the field, spending her days making house calls at her patients’ homes. “When you go into a home, it’s a different experience than seeing a patient in an office,” she said. “You see their living situation, you see their family, you get that whole picture from their home environment.”Here, Nurse Beka Copley walks up to the home of Robert Kipp, one of her patients, on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 in Chesapeake, Ohio.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch, “Nurse Beka”Nurse Beka Copley asks her patient, Kathryn Davidson, 96, if she can take off her gloves to check her hands during a home visit on Tuesday, August 20, 2019 in South Point, Ohio. “The best for me is connecting with my patients,” Beka said. “I talk to them, I listen, I hold their hand and feel what they’re feeling.”
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch, “Nurse Beka”Nurse Beka Copley holds the hand of Betty Gibson while checking her blood pressure during a home visit on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 in South Point, Ohio.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch, “Nurse Beka”Nurse Beka Copley, right, listens as patient Robert Kipp, 80, left, of Chesapeake, Ohio, updates Copley on his health during a home visit on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 in Chesapeake, Ohio. Copley, originally from nearby Wayne County, West Virginia, knows that being from the area helps foster trust in her patients. “They see me as a familiar face. They hear my accent, and it’s a familiar sound,” she said.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch, “Nurse Beka”With limited access to a reliable cell signal, nurse Beka Copley uses a wi-fi hotspot to connect her phone to the internet so she can use her GPS as she gets directions to her next patient on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 in Lawrence County, Ohio.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch, “Nurse Beka”After seeing a patient, nurse Beka Copley takes a call from another nurse out in the field on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 in Chesapeake, Ohio. The nurse called Beka after her patient had become threatening seeking advice. "Get out of there," Beka replied, adding that their office would follow up with the patient's family and decide whether to keep them as a patient.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch, “Nurse Beka”Nurse Beka Copley checks on the condition of David Dempsey's foot as she chats with him while on a home visit on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 in Proctorville, Ohio.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch, “Nurse Beka”Nurse Beka Copley chats with Elsie Dempsey, 76, of Proctorville, about her medications while making a house call on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 in Proctorville, Ohio. Often, Copley spends her home visits doing basic check-ins, making sure they have simple things like medication and flu shots.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch, “Nurse Beka”Elsie Dempsey, 76, of Proctorville, hugs nurse Beka Copley as she leaves her home following a visit on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 in Proctorville, Ohio.
