SPECIAL REPORT: Five years later: COVID-19’s lasting impact on Yuma and Imperial County

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - It's been five years since the first case of COVID case was reported in Yuma County. 

Since the first case, Yuma and Imperial Counties have seen thousands of other cases, hundreds of death, and a heavy strain on health care workers.

From packed hospitals to mass vaccination sites, the fight against COVID-19 has shaped the lives of people here in Yuma and Imperial County.

We spoke to local healthcare workers who were on the frontlines, a nurse who became a patient, and those who ensure the lives lost are never forgotten.

In Yuma County, between 2020 and 2022 there were more than 3,700 reported COVID-19 cases and 876 deaths.

In Imperial County, cases surpassed 74,000 since the start of the pandemic, many of those reported in the first three years.

These numbers are more than statistics, They're lives impacted, families changed, and health care workers pushed to the brink.

For the nurses and doctors who lived through the worst of the pandemic the experience was nothing short of overwhelming. Some left the field all together, while others fought through the mental and emotional strain to keep saving lives.

Alfredo Gonzales, an ICU registered nurse at Onvida says, "We had a lot of nurses that couldn't handle the pressure of seeing this pandemic that hit everybody and we were not mentally prepared to experience those changes and those conditions."

At the height of the crisis, hospitals expanded their ICUs and adapted staffing models to manage the overwhelming influx of patients.

Deborah Aders, Onvida Health's Chief Nursing Officer, says, "We overwhelmed the ICU so we had two ICUs. We overwhelmed med surge units so one was a 90 bed unit and one was a 45 bed COVID unit so trying to find staff we had to default back to staffing models that we’ve used in the past."

As the world searched for a way out of the pandemic, local health officials emphasize the power of vaccines.

Karla Lopez, Communicable Disease Control and Prevention Manager, says "We have to keep in mind that vaccination is important. It's the one big measure that we promote for our protection against any pathogen, any respiratory pathogen."

And for those who lost loved ones, a memorial now stands at Onvida Health. A place for remembrance, healing, and hope.

Kathleen Peters, Onvida Health's Fund Development Specialist, says "It's really what our staff and first responder were doing during COVID was building hope everyday and this should be a place of remembrance, a place of solace and a place of hope."

For Gonzales, who fought at the frontlines and later became a patient himself, the experience gave him a new appreciation for life: "Now all I need is a simple breath. Everything else is secondary so if you ask me, if you see me around the hospital, every day to me is a blessing. If I complain about anything then I could be selfish because I have breath."

Five years later, life has returned to a new normal, but for healthcare workers, survivors, and families who lost loved ones, the impact is still deeply felt. 

This memorial stands as a reminder of that journey. Of loss, of resilience, and of the lessons learned along the way.