In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and Island boards of health have teamed up to make a bilingual, English and Portuguese-language public service announcement promoting pandemic safety and best practices.

The PSA, available on the hospital website’s Covid-19 page, is approximately six minutes long and includes coronavirus-related information and advice from health agents and hospital staff. Tisbury health agent Maura Valley and hospital staff, including ER nurse Will DaSilva, cardiologist Dr. Aliya Browne, surgical services nurse Latonia James and head of operations Claire Seguin all appear in the video, reminding Islanders about the importance of wearing masks, social distancing and taking other necessary precautions as the winter approaches.

The hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Pieter Pil, translates into Portuguese throughout the video.

The PSA will air daily on MVTV throughout January, according to hospital officials.

In a press briefing last week, hospital officials said the idea for the PSA came from a desire to keep messaging direct, especially as Covid-19 case numbers have risen precariously in the past months.

“We wanted to make the message as simple as possible, and get it out there from all of our various points of view,” hospital CEO Denise Schepici said. “This is a community problem. The boards of health are working really hard to do the tracing, and we’re trying to do everything we can to get ready for the vaccination.”

She added:

“We really felt that if we kept it simple, interpreted our messages, and just kept it to the few points that we’ve made over and over about wearing a mask, that would be a really important public service announcement. It’s really about messaging and spreading the word as we see our numbers tick up.”

The hospital produced the video with the help of Galen Films, a documentary film company owned by Len and Georgia Morris of Vineyard Haven.

“It came together really quickly,” Ms. Schepici said.

The video ends with Ms. Schepici asking on behalf of health care workers and neighbors on the front lines for Islanders to remain vigilant through the winter season, and notes mvhospital.com as a resource.

“We are asking because we care about you,” Ms. Schepci said. “Martha’s Vineyard has proven time and time again, we can get the job done when we work together.”