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Patrick Lam - Tumultuous 2020

Patrick Lam, the former executive director of the Villas of Holly Brook assisted living facility, details his experiences during the spring and summer of 2021 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to 2021, Lam was an executive director of a different Springfield based assisted living facility for six years before leaving to focus on his family. After spending two years working for the Illinois Department of Revenue, he joined the Villas of Holly Brook assisted living facility as their executive director in March of 2021. Over the course of the interview, Lam discusses the impact a year of the COVID-19 pandemic had on the assisted living community and what it was like to join during such a crisis. Lam outlines in detail the issues the facility faced, such as staffing shortages and mitigating different COVID-19 protocols. Due to the high levels of stress and being on call twenty-four seven, Lam left after six months to focus on the well-being of his family.