OAKLAND — Shelby Delaney and her fellow nurses working the evening shift at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center huddled in the break room like they always do just before their 3 p.m. start. The ICU manager would be deciding who should handle the sickest coronavirus patients, a daunting nightly ritual at hospitals under siege across the globe.
But first, something special was about to happen. This 27-year-old intensive care nurse was about to meet one of the greatest NBA basketball players of all time.
With her iPhone propped up on the table and her fellow nurses gathered around her, she adjusted her surgical mask and answered the FaceTime call.