Lost on the frontline is a collaboration between the Guardian and Kaiser Health News that aims to document the lives of healthcare workers in the US who die from Covid-19, and to understand why so many are falling victim to the pandemic.

Each week, we’re documenting new cases of healthcare workers who have died on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. Here are their stories:

James ‘Mike’ Anderson, 51
‘Gregarious’ mechanic maintained hospital air filters

Occupation: Maintenance mechanic
Place of work: St Mary medical center in Langhorne, Pennsylvania
Date of death: 13 April 2020

As he wheeled patients through hallways or responded to maintenance calls, James “Mike” Anderson was “gregarious”, said Mark Banchi, a hospital volunteer.

Banchi, who taught English at the high school Anderson had attended, said even as a student, he was “a personality larger than life.”

Anderson had “immeasurable” pride in his son and daughter, ages five and nine, Banchi said.

He had a low-profile but critical job: changing air filters in the rooms of patients, including those treated for Covid-19.

In early April, Anderson came down with what he thought was a cold. On 13 April, he was rushed to the hospital, where he died of acute respiratory distress syndrome from Covid-19.

David Stern, a lawyer pursuing a workers’ compensation claim on behalf of Anderson’s wife and children, said Anderson was exposed to contaminated air filters and spaces.

In an email, a hospital spokesperson said she was unable to provide additional information “out of respect for his and his family’s privacy”.

“His loss to the hospital is real,” Banchi said. “Some people lift spirits, some people make you glad you came that day, and Mike was one of those people.”

– Melissa Bailey

Joseph Bongiorno Sr, 78
Psychiatrist relished building relationships with patients

Occupation: Psychiatrist
Place of work: Private practice in Chicago
Date of death: 14 April 2020

Joseph Bongiorno worked for nearly a decade with James Sullivan at Amita Saint Joseph hospital in Chicago. Neither imagined they would meet again as doctor and patient in a pandemic.

Early in his career, Bongiorno worked for the US air force, providing psychiatric service to veterans who had served Vietnam. In addition to his work at Saint Joseph, he kept a private practice and counseled clergy for the archdiocese of Chicago. Toward the end of his career, Bongiorno chose to focus exclusively on private practice.

“He was a one-on-one type of person, you know, and I think that’s kind of why he decided to do what he did with the last years of his life,” Sullivan said. “He found the thing that made him happy.”

Bongiorno was hospitalized in mid-March; Sullivan, an infectious disease specialist, oversaw his care. Shortly before he was intubated, the psychiatrist gave Sullivan a small black book with the names of people he might have had contact with recently. He wanted to contribute to contact tracing in some way.

He died a few weeks later.

His son, Joseph Bongiorno Jr, said he’d received dozens of emails from his father’s former patients. “They all pretty much say that he saved their life,” he said.

– Ayse Eldes, University of Michigan