It has been one year since COVID-19 began impacting our organization, marking a season of challenge and change. But amidst that, our teams came together, displaying remarkable strength and teamwork—and now hope.
In acknowledgement of this milestone, the network has organized a week of commemorations. Throughout the week of March 15, Spiritual Care teams will make special rounds across our organization, with care carts stocked with special cookies and stickers to recognize the strength, teamwork, and hope our employees have displayed throughout the last 12 months. On Friday, March 19, we will observe a moment of silence and a special prayer for hope will be read. The schedule for events across our network is below:
7 a.m.
- Troy Hospital
8 a.m.
- Kettering Health Network – Piqua
9 a.m.
- Fort Hamilton Hospital
- Grandview Medical Center
- Kettering Medical Center
- Southview Medical Center
- Sycamore Medical Center
9 a.m.
Teams meeting option: Click here to participate in the moment of silence through Teams – 9:00 am on Friday, March 19
9 a.m.
- Greene Memorial Hospital
- Soin Medical Center
2 p.m.
- Kettering Behavioral Medicine Center
Over the last year, our teams have made an immense impact on our communities. The family member of a COVID-19 patient wrote, “Your teams were so kind during the entire process. They took great care of my father. He is here because of your care. You gave me information every time I called—and I called a lot because we could not be there in person. You were understanding and patient with all my questions. You told my dad we loved him, whether he could hear you or not, when we couldn’t.”
Those stories are found across our network:
Kianna Matthews – Environmental Service Worker, Soin Medical Center
“Kianna does so much to help keep our unit in great shape. When we had our first COVID-19 positive patient, it was Kianna again who jumped in bravely to clean and turn over the room with a courageous attitude of thoroughness. Her actions helped our unit run smoothly, prevented a delay in care, and pain control for a patient that really needed a room.”
Tiffany Collins – Medical Assistant, Greystone Family Practice, Kettering Physician Network
“With our new visitor restrictions due to COVID-19, we are unable to have children under the age of 18 accompany parents to things like appointments and testing. On more than one occasion, Tiffany has volunteered to sit with children so patients could continue to receive needed tests! People like her are the reason I am proud to work in this field and for this company.”
Janae Wicker – Athletic Trainer, Kettering Medical Center
“I spent a COVID-19 screening shift with Janae and she demonstrates Kettering’s values in helping others. She is quick to solve issues that arise and takes charge. She took her time to help a patient who only spoke Spanish, and used Google Translate first to try and communicate what the patient needed. The patient was at the wrong location and Janae helped the patient across the road to the office where this patient needed to go.”
But the impact wasn’t just on our patients. Our employees made a difference for each other as well. Below are just a few examples:
Kacee Floyd – Molecular Testing Supervisor, Kettering Medical Center
“Kacee was instrumental in bringing COVID-19 testing in-house, as she worked tirelessly without days off to make it happen. In-house testing would not be a possibility without her expertise and dedication to the cause. She is a treasure to the lab and we would not be able to do any of this without her.”
Jeannie Cornett – Environmental Services, Fort Hamilton Hospital
“Jeannie is trusted by not only the EVS staff that she works with, but by all the departments that she interacts with. Her staff and peers know that she will follow through on what she promises and will always ask if there is anything else she can do for you. She always helps her team out by being involved the cleaning process, and during COVID-19, she has been instrumental while the unit was on 4 West and now in part of the ICU. She is always smiling and makes sure to say hello to everyone she sees. This is so important when we walk through the hallways, as you never know what someone is dealing with.”
Thomas Zink – IS, ASB
“Tom is a true team player. During the recent COVID-19 crisis, Tom stepped up to the challenge of delivering essential dashboard reports for Kettering Health Network leadership to support the Incident Command Center. He worked tirelessly with several departments and teams gathering their data requirements with impressive attention to detail, in order to build near real-time reporting dashboards for supply chain inventory, lab, and respiratory asset tracking. His great attitude and collaborative nature has given our team a greater depth of knowledge and understanding.”
Terrie Lawrence – Respiratory Care, Grandview Medical Center
“During a very busy weekend, Terrie kept our department afloat. She answered call lights, answered phone calls, completed consuls, helped bathe patients, gave respiratory treatments, roomed patients, walked patients to the restroom, cleaned rooms, did EKGs, and other numerous tasks. Terrie completed most of these tasks without being asked. This isn’t something that is new to us. The staff love having Terrie on our unit and at the end of our weekend I hear, ‘We wouldn’t have made it without Terrie this weekend.’
Lynsey Boswell – ICU, Soin Medical Center
“Lynsey has been such a huge help for the bedside nursing staff this past weekend. I have been working in the COVID ICU and every time I called her for help she instantly showed up and had a great attitude about it. She helps me bounce ideas off her on how to better help my patients and helps reassure me. I look up to her so much and I just want her to be recognized. Lynsey also shows great empathy for our patients and truly gets to know them. She finds out what kind of music they enjoy and will play music for our intubated patients, which I think is amazing. This past weekend was rough, but Lynsey made it so much better. I cannot thank her enough!”