Empty Beds

Amid so much grief and stress, there are occasional moments of relief, and they are so much sweeter when life is so sour in general. That’s true of a milestone accomplishment on Friday for Stony Brook Southampton Hospital: The first facility in Suffolk County to treat a confirmed COVID-19 patient at the start of the pandemic released the last patient being treated in its isolation unit.

Even sweeter, the patient who was discharged had received treatment in the hospital for 120 days — including four weeks on a ventilator. Her celebratory discharge, including a round of applause from hospital staff, was captured on video and shared. Joy in the midst of a health crisis is a rare thing that should be treasured.

Don’t mistake this milestone for a finish line — the crisis is far from over. The hospital treated more than 175 patients with the virus so far, as many as 55 at once, and the empty beds it boasts now could easily be filled again, quickly. The region was among the first to go through the surge of COVID-19 and has so far been successful in keeping the numbers in check. But there remains the peak month of summer, with all its visitors from far-flung places converging on a small spit of land — and, beyond that, fall, with its own uncertainties.

But there’s no shame in embracing small victories. The empty beds at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital is something to celebrate, even as we mourn, and fret, and maintain the successful course of action that allowed it to happen.