The Huntsville Hospital Foundation has a new program that will help recognize staff at every level.
The Hospital Heroes program is a way for patients to make a donation to the hospital in appreciation of the care they received.
“Grateful patient programs are ways for patients to give back in recognition of the exceptional care they’ve had at the hospital. That’s always existed but they’ve never had a formal program and it’s never really been marketed in the hospital in any way, shape or form,” said Jennifer Simpson, a new member of the hospital foundation who’s been tasked with creating this program. “We decided to start an actual program called Hospital Heroes where people could recognize staff, and it could be a physician, a nurse, a team, a department for the great work that they do by giving to the foundation, at any amount.”
The goal of the program is to foster a culture of gratitude within the hospital and community, she said.
“I think that’s something that’s kind of a buzzword right now with COVID-19, gratitude and frontline workers really kind of hit the front pages of every media source and this is just a way to formalize that and to gather the stories,” said Simpson. “That’s a huge part of the program to gather the stories of the patients so we can feed that back to the staff, which boosts morale and makes them happy about the work they’re doing and being recognized for the great work they do, especially some of the workers who are not super front line. They don’t always get the recognition they deserve, so this is a nice way to share those stories and bring the recognition to the whole team, which just fosters the whole idea of gratitude and supporting one another.”
Jennifer Simpson (supplied)
Simpson’s background is in naturopathic medicine and fundraising.
“I’ve kind of been fundrasing my whole life,” she said. “So when I was taking a break from naturopathic medicine I thought it was something that I could do and I really wanted to give back.”
Her husband is a physician so she sees firsthand the importance of supporting a local hospital in our community.
“Our community is what defines us. I want my kids to see that it’s important to help each other; to be there for each other in whatever capacity we can,” she said. “I think it creates a better sense of community when there’s people out there willing to give of themselves for whatever cause it may be. We have a lot of great causes in Huntsville and the surrounding area. It creates that sense of community.”
Patients who want to donate don’t need to make their donation immediately following their care. “If people have had an exceptional experience at the hospital and it’s two, three years or so, it’s never too late to recognize whoever it was that was important in their care; even if it was just to share their story without making a donation. Although, obviously we love to receive donations.”
Those interested in donating or sharing their story are encouraged to contact the Huntsville Hospital Foundation and ask for Simpson.
There are other ways of donating as well, for those who may not have been a patient at the hospital. There are a variety of programs from legacy gifts to giving monthly to naming a room, all of which can be found on the foundations’ website.
“The reason a culture of gratitude is so important is because there are actual health benefits to expressing gratitude,” said Simpson. “When patients are encouraged to show their gratitude, research as shown there’s lots of health parameters that improve because of that giving nature. That’s an important part of it too from a health perspective, not just as a philanthropic organization. It’s part of the healing journey for people and being able to tell somebody about the amazing experience they have. We can be that outlet for them. Positive energy feeds positive energy. Just putting that message of gratitude out there will pay it forward and it’s shared into the hospital then the staff pickup on that positive energy and on it goes. Once it gets rolling it’s going to be great.”
To contact the foundation phone 705-789-4756 or email [email protected]. For more information, visit huntsvillehospitalfoundation.ca.
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