A teammate’s gratitude on Giving Tuesday
I work for Beebe Medical Foundation and have the pleasure of managing Beebe’s employee giving program, Giving Hands. I love the Giving Hands program, and I love that it allows me to interact with my fellow team members who give back to Beebe in so many generous ways. However, on July 11, when my foundation colleague, Lesley Carr, found me lying on the floor of my office in excruciating pain, my interaction with my co-workers became very personal.
Lesley wisely convinced me that I should pay our local, award-winning nonprofit community hospital a visit and drove me the few blocks to the emergency department in Lewes. From that point on, I experienced gratitude for my fellow team members through a whole different lens.
Once in the emergency department, every Beebe team member I came in contact with calmed me, reassured me and respected me. While I felt sure I was having a heart attack, I had complete confidence in the Beebe professionals who were handling my care; I left the diagnosing to them. After they eased my pain and performed a myriad of exams, tests and scans, it was accurately determined that I was experiencing biliary colic – a gallbladder attack – and needed emergency surgery.
There wasn’t a single moment that I felt anything but confidence in my care and my caregivers, and a sure sense that everything was going to be OK. I had a most exciting ride to the operating room (courtesy of a pair of joyful Beebe nurses), where Dr. Erik Stancofski and his surgical team relieved me of that infected gallbladder in swift and skilled order. I was back in my comfortable “room with a view” on the third floor before I knew it. All the nurses there continued to make me feel safe and secure. Unbelievably, my whole Beebe patient experience lasted little more than 24 hours, and I was back at home and in full recovery mode. I attribute this to the truly compassionate and expert care I received from my Beebe team members.
I am proud to have my voice heard today, Giving Tuesday, because not only do I work at Beebe, but I give to Beebe. Today I am also a very grateful Beebe patient, and I know how important it to ensure that the kind of care I received at Beebe this past July is always available to our community for generations to come.
As a community-based, not-for-profit healthcare system, Beebe Healthcare depends on the generous support of individuals, local businesses, corporations and private foundations. Please consider contacting Beebe Medical Foundation today – on Giving Tuesday – to make a gift. Go to www.beebemedicalfoundation.org or call 302-644-2900.
