July 29, 2025
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
'Stories in Care,' a 22-episode series featuring interviews with doctors and nurses at Cooper University Health Care, will be included in a Library of Congress collection archiving the COVID-19 pandemic.
An online docuseries chronicling the work of Camden health-care providers is now part of the Library of Congress' catalogue documenting the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Stories in Care" is a 22-episode series featuring interviews with doctors, nurses and staff working in the intensive care unit at Cooper University Health Care in 2020. The 3-6 minute episodes were just added to the American Folklife Center's "Stories from the COVID-19 Pandemic" collection, a virtual record of that time period for future generations.
The series has two seasons and was filmed in 2020 and 2021 in collaboration with Narrative Media in Wynnewood. It features interviews with 10 providers about the early days of the pandemic. Staff shared memories about the challenges they faced treating patients while still learning about the virus – from banning visitors and supporting colleagues to keeping their families from getting exposed and deciding who would treat the first COVID-19 patients.
In one episode, critical care technician Suhail Augusto recounts crying while holding an iPad up to a patient so his wife could sing "You are my Sunshine" to him.
"There was nothing more that I could do in that moment," Augusto said. "... A lot of my colleagues have had to hold the iPad or the phone to the ear for a loved one to say their final goodbyes."
Since it premiered in 2021, "Stories in Care" received a Gold Telly Award and Gold Ragan PR Daily Award for Best Web Series.
The Library of Congress collection includes podcasts, videos, art and oral histories on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted Americans, including the experiences of front-line workers, teachers and musicians.
“These personal accounts offer a window into one of the most defining periods in modern history,” Andrew Poag, executive producer of the series and president of Narrative Media, said in a statement. “It’s deeply rewarding to know that something we poured our hearts into will now help future generations understand what it was like to live through those days.”
"Stories in Care" is available to watch now on Narrative Media's website. Watch the first episode below.
