Stony Brook University Hospital health care workers are going the extra mile to reduce patient anxieties about their anonymous faces hidden by masks.

Health care workers will begin wearing staff ID pictures on their gowns while interacting with patients so they can see the full face of the staff member caring for them.

The program helps patients, many of whom are battling COVID-19, get to know their caregivers by sight.

The idea came from Stony Brook Nurse Practitioner April Plank, after she was deployed to a COVID unit.

The ‘Face Behind the Mask’ will be piloted in one unit to start, before being deployed elsewhere throughout the hospital.

In addition, physicians are continuing to provide care outside of rooms with telehealth resources via specially configured smart phones and iPads.

The Stony Brook Medicine Diabetes Program is also now modifying its reporting platform to remotely track patients with COVID-19 who may also be suffering from a blood sugar crisis via a wearable sensor.

Other efforts to limit viral exposure and conserve Personal Protective Equipment include IV pumps positioned outside of patient’s rooms.