We are the Planetree Society of Kindness

Comments

[Christine Messina-Boyer]

It was my pleasure to recognize Patti Smith, Office Coordinator, Health Information Management, with one of the first Cooper/Planetree Token of Kindness Awards. Patti exemplifies the spirit of excellent patient and family centered care. She is always positive and helpful with problems patients have presented through our “Contact Us” email form on the Cooper web site. The most recent involved the daughter of a former patient who requested her father’s medical records November 16, 2008. The daughter lives in Iceland – which, with time zone differences and international telephone numbers, made this request more difficult than most. Problems arose with fulfilling this request, and in February she still had not received the records. I spoke to Patti and in two days I had the records in my hand. Patti cares deeply about our patients and good customer service, and will go out of her way to be helpful. Thank you, Patti! CHRISTINE MESSINA-BOYER February 26, 2009 (#2058)

[Cynthia Garretson]

I would like to pass on Planetree Token of Kindness to Suzanne Cappo, a registered nurse in the NICU. Suzanne was the primary nurse for a very sick baby boy born at 25 weeks gestation and weighed less than two pounds at birth. His care was complex and further complicated by the fact that the parents were from Turkey and spoke no English. The mother was frightened to hold or touch her son and was fearful that he would either not make it or would be taken away from her. Suzanne was extremely kind and patient with her, and helped the mother get through her son's darkest days. As the baby got better, Suzanne taught the mother to care for her son. The mother came to rely on Suzanne’s support, and when Suzanne was not at work she would manage to speak a little English by saying "Suzanne here today?" I had the opportunity to speak with the mother, via a translator, the day her son went home. She told me that Suzanne was an angel sent from God to help her son survive, and that she would pray every day for Suzanne to have a happy life. CYNTHIA GARRETSON April 19, 2009 (#2038)

[Elizabeth Bobulski]

I am passing my Token of Kindness to Dorothy Duffy who routinely makes a difference for patients’ family members and fellow employees. Dorothy, at times, answers calls from concerned family members of patients. She is always kind, reassuring and compassionate. She handles all these matters with utmost respect and timeliness. She follows up and insures satisfaction or at least resolution. With fellow employees Dorothy is always ready to help and no request is too small. She takes extra effort and much care to insure needs are met. Dorothy Duffy exemplifies the Planetree spirit. I’m so thankful to work with her. LIZ BOBULSKI March 2, 2009 (#2079)

[LINDA VALENTI]

Kathleen Fischer is office supervisor for the BMA practice. It was a pleasure to give the Token of Kindness Award to Kathleen because she consistently goes out of her way to help brighten days. Last week one of the staff members Kathleen works with had such a traumatic day that it brought her to tears. Kathleen stopped what she was doing and sat with the staff member. She allowed her to say everything she had to say and Kathleen did what she could to help her make it through the rest of the day. When you are in a room with Kathleen, her kindness is palpable.
LINDA VALENTI March 5, 2009 (#2026)

[Liz Canders]

I have chosen to pass on the Token of Kindness Award to Cynthia Garretson, a registered nurse in the NICU. I feel Cyndi deserves this Token as she is a constant patient/family liaison, an excellent nurse, educator, and discharge planner. All of these combined, I feel Cyndi has an enormous influence on our patient satisfaction scores. Cyndi not only deals with parents who have challenging social situations, she takes the time to orient nursing students, follows up with families of patients after discharge, and of course is an excellent bedside nurse.
ELIZABETH CANDERS March 7, 2009 (#2038)

[Patti Smith]

It was my pleasure to recognize Arlene Skelly, Patient Representative, Patient Relations, with the Cooper Planetree Token of Kindness Award. Arlene displays the spirit of excellent patient and family centered care each and every day. Her calm presence automatically puts everyone at ease when she is involved in solving patient related issues. Arlene is always responsive whenever we have a patient who needs assistance. In each and every situation that arises, Arlene brings a positive and timely resolution. Many thanks to Arlene for always being there for us and for our patients! I look forward to continuing to work and learn from her in the future.
PATRICIA SMITH April 3, 2009 (#2058)

[Dorothy Duffy]

I gave the Token of Kindness to Mike Mayo in Information Technologies. Even though Mike triages “data security” related I.T. inquiries, he consistently goes above & beyond his assigned responsibilities to identify the issues and appropriate resolutions. He has become the “go to” person for me & my colleagues for assistance and/or if we are trying to identify a long-term solution to a particular issue. My interaction with Mike usually relate to a system/process “glitch” to communication issues between H.R., I.T., and a nursing department. Many times the “glitches” result in a particular nurse’s inability to perform her responsibilities related to medication distribution, patient chart/records, and/or supplies via the various password secured systems throughout the institution. This has an impact on the overall quality of patient care delivered to patients. Without question or hesitation, Mike realizes the urgency and is quick to resolve. He is not interested in a quick fix. He asks appropriate questions and works through the process in an attempt to identify the source of the issue. If necessary, he consults his team members to solicit their experiences. Once the issue is resolved, Mike consistently follows up with me and other individuals involved. Never once have I heard him point the blame finger at a person or department; instead, he acknowledges that a particular process or breakdown in communication has an ineffective/negative result and requires further investigation and process change. One may not necessarily relate a computer to the delivery of patient care, but as we well know, much of our daily business depends on computer operations. Occasionally, Mike deals with frustrated staff members and managers, yet he always remains calm and coaches them through the process so they’ll know what to expect and are confident he will do his best to resolve the matter. It is not only imperative that we have properly skilled individuals involved in all aspects of our computer operations systems throughout the institution, but it is of particular importance to staff the support departments with customer service-oriented, resourceful, pleasant and accountable individuals. Some employees may possess some of these attributes, but Mike possesses all of them. When I thank and acknowledge Mike for his continued assistance, he responds that he “doesn’t like to pass the buck,” and that he “would much rather work at a solution when presented than to “clean up” afterwards”, after much damage has been done. His goal is to please customers, and in my estimation he does so 100% of the time. DOROTHY DUFFY April 8, 2009 (#2079)