2020 Person of the Year Nominee: Kristen Johnson

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
Health care workers across the globe faced a whole onslaught of challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the world in 2020. Local providers were no different, jumping through hoops, keeping up with constantly changing regulations and information and taking on roles they never thought possible.
Over the year, despite the negativity and skepticism of those disagreeing with the position of health care workers, nurse Kristen Johnson went beyond the duties of nurse and made it her duty to provide the most up-to-date information to the community as possible. According to her nominator, this is what makes Johnson the perfect candidate for 2020 Person of the Year. 
“Kristen took it upon herself to provide information on social media, which was well above and beyond what she needed to do,” said Melanie Wilmer, public health emergency response coordinator for Weston and Crook counties. “She was running discussions and exercises with the hospital (Weston County Health Services), keeping them in the loop as far as the health care coalition goes. Back then, we were talking about a coming pandemic and it then became the ongoing pandemic.” 
According to Wilmer, Johnson has eased the burden on those in the public health sector, as far as Weston County is concerned, and has done everything in her power to get the best information to the community, despite the negative responses. 
“I think she showed absolute care and compassion for the community, which is something that was needed,” said Gilbert Nelson, Weston County’s emergency management coordinator. “There were and are a lot of people that needed what Kristen has done. … even though there were those that attacked her and didn’t believe.” 
Nelson also said that Johnson went beyond what was required or expected of her. She did it out of the kindness of her heart and her love for the community, he said. 
According to Johnson, providing information in the best way possible is something that is second nature to her. As for the pandemic part, she said that’s something she has been preparing for through her work in emergency preparedness at the hospital and for training with the Local Emergency Personnel Committee. 
“We were meeting every few months. … A lot of that training was about getting information out to the community. We usually planned for an immediate disaster affecting a much smaller portion of the community, never an ongoing pandemic,” Johnson said. “We had been planning for it for years, talked about it all the time, and then it was actually time to use the training.” 
Johnson, who is attending school to become a certified nurse practitioner, said that research is something she was required to do and it was easy enough for her to share the most accurate information possible with the community. 
“It was nice to put the research I was doing for school to use for the good of the public. I was thinking about the situation and having to choose between who gets ventilators and oxygen. In a small community, it is always going to be someone that you know,” Johnson said. “There is never going to be a time that you aren’t choosing between your family or someone else’s that you know … I don’t want people to be scared, but I want them to take it seriously. To
find a balance.” 
The problem with the information, Johnson said, is that it continues to change. She explained that little was known about the novel coronavirus and that there is still so much that needs to be learned. 
“Even with what we know, there are still not any really good treatments,” Johnson said. “I’ve always tried to put out what is right, and I’m not afraid to put out updated information when things change. The problem has been those that have been negative since the beginning.” 
Johnson said that those in the health care field were seeing the negative effects of the virus on health care systems before Weston County even experienced its first positive test result. She said she was seeing the negative aspects secondhand and not just on the news like most of the public. 
“In a pandemic, no matter what you do, it will always be wrong,” Johnson said. “If your attempts work, then people think it was never going to get bad, and if they don’t work, then you didn’t do enough. That’s what I’ve had to remind myself. What happened here is our attempts worked, and when you aren’t seeing the issues, people are going to think it’s fake.” 
Throughout the whole experience, Johnson said she has done her best to remain positive and continue to do what she feels is best for Weston County. She said that the continued messages and positive thoughts have helped her remember why she does what she does, because she loves Weston County and wants to help the community be the healthiest community possible.