Union Health’s mission is to provide compassionate healthcare of the highest quality. So, it is important for us to recognize and encourage compassion when we see it. Our Heart Story program is a way to celebrate compassion within our organization.
How does it work? Each employee badge has four empty hearts. When a story of an employee’s compassion to a patient or another employee is shared, that employee is acknowledged by filling in one of the empty hearts on his or her badge. Once all four small hearts are filled, the employee receives a new badge with a single large heart.
The act may be great or small and can be done by a single person or as a whole department. Heart Story submissions may be detailed or of deep meaning but few words. The common thread, however, is always a connection that reflects compassion for others.
Below are some of our heart story submissions from recent months. These submissions are in the words of the patient or co-worker that nominated the employee*.
Nominate an amazing staff member today by emailing heartstories@uhhg.org.
*Minor modifications have been made to certain submissions in order to maintain the privacy of the patient and/or patient family.
♥ Hannah Sullivan
"Hannah had cared for an older gentleman in the ICU COVID unit. Due to the circumstances, he and his wife were unable to spend their 37th wedding anniversary together. They usually have an annual date to Texas Roadhouse. Hannah, on her day off, arranged to meet their daughter to pick up Texas Roadhouse for him and his wife and delivered his meal to the hospital. She also arranged for the couple to FaceTime as if they were on a date, celebrating their anniversary."
♥ Tiffany Lingenfelser
"Tiffany came into the clinic the other morning with her daughter to get an x-ray and the screener had left the area. The patients were lined up back to the parking lot. Tiffany had her name tag and mask on so she stepped behind the table and proceeded to check people in. The screener showed up 10-15 minutes later. Tiffany stepped in, took over, and got patients in and on their way to the appropriate place."
♥ Rachel Gower
"Rachel was caring for a patient that was feeling down and depressed after spending over 30 days in the hospital recovering from surgery. Rachel came in on her day off to fix the patient’s hair and to make her feel better and cheer her up."
♥ Selina Mitchell
"I have health issues that make it difficult to get around. I was worried about how I was going to clean the snow off my car. When I got out to the parking lot, Selina was already out there and had cleared all the snow off my car. She did this before she did her own."
♥ Rick Mix
"Rick assisted me at the Center for Occupational Health to move a truckload of equipment and supplies to Indiana State University for their wellness screens not once, but twice. Rick had to bring his delivery truck out to COH to move equipment to Tirey Hall and then again 10 days later to return the equipment to COH. Rick returned yet again to COH a few weeks later to move the same equipment back to the ISU library. He had to come back to the library and move our equipment again a week after that. This is not a routine part of Rick’s job but he was more than willing to help and always had a smile."
♥ Leanne Woodfall
"We had a post-partum mom hemorrhage after delivery and end up in the ICU which caused a separation between mom and baby. This is something we try very hard to avoid if at all possible, but mom’s health required a higher level of care than we could provide in Maternal Child Services.
The next morning the unit was very busy but Leanne made it a priority to take the newborn baby to the ICU to see mom. The mom was so appreciative and tearful for Leanne’s act of kindness."
♥ Jennifer Compton
"Jennifer Compton was walking to the front of the building when she walked by surgery scheduling office, she noticed a patient was having a hard time filling out paperwork. Jennifer stopped, sat down with the patient, and filled the paperwork out with her."
♥ Misty Wyrick
"Misty Wyrick was at the lobby pharmacy and a patient I was helping discharge tried to use his card to pay for his prescription and the card machine was down, so Misty took it upon herself to pay cash for his prescription."
♥ Kim Loughlin
"Earlier this year, Kim was leaving her shift from the pharmacy in the West building and found a patient outside waiting for her ride. She asked Kim for help. She had no phone to contact her driver and had been waiting for a very long time. I believe Kim first helped the patient make phone calls to her presumed driver and after discovering this was a dead end and the patient’s ride was not going to make it, Kim came back into the pharmacy and started making phone calls. She ended up working with the Chaplain’s Office to get a bus pass or cab money. Just as she had it all straightened out, I believe the patient made contact with her ride and decided she didn’t need our help. Between leaving late, meeting the patient, and all the effort to help get her home, Kim had stayed nearly an hour past her shift end with her own 1.5-hour commute home ahead of her. Kim is known for going the extra mile and has done things for patients that are definitely not in her job description."
♥ Lynzie Thomann
"We got a patient on 3EC2 that did not have any clean clothes when he was admitted. After her shift, Lynzie went to the store and bought the patient clothes to wear."
♥ Jessica Hagan
"While my family and I were having dinner at MCL, there was a man choking in the restaurant. A bystander started the Heimlich maneuver but was unsuccessful. Jessica Hagan was also having dinner there and jumped in to perform the Heimlich and was able to dislodge the food. Kudos to Jessica for stepping in!"
♥ Melissa Edwards & Gina Mumbower
"In late 2018, 3 North Central students were tragically involved in an accident that took their lives. In such a small community, this was devastating. Both Melissa and Gina have children or grandchildren that attended the school of these three young men. Melissa and Gina spear-headed an effort to raise money to help memorialize these 3 teenagers. They had bake sales, asked for donations, and spent a lot of their own money and time to be able to raise over $1,100 to purchase a granite monument to be located on the North Central school property in remembrance of these three young men."
♥ Judy Hill, Phyllis Burk, Cher Stewart, Bonnie Roach
"For 28 days, we came into IV Therapy for antibiotics to help Jen recover from her knee injury. Each day we came, Jen received treatment and trusted you to provide quality care; you did and in such a caring way. Every day we were greeted by each one of you, with a welcoming friendly smile. Each day, we were treated by a group of health care professionals who provided Jen with outstanding care; you know what you were doing. Each day, we were blessed to meet other patients who made our stay even more meaningful, interesting, and actually fun.
So as Jen and I reflect on our time with you, we know we were blessed by you. You serve such an invaluable role in helping others, and we respect and honor you for what you do. And while we celebrate the end of our 28 days at Union Hospital, we will miss you. You have been, and will be for a long time, a memorable, wonderful part of our lives."
♥ Chelsea Fisher
"Chelsea was so very helpful and understanding during my stay. She is so in tune with her patients. I recently lost my husband, so being in the hospital over the holiday and still, the morning was at best bearable. Chelsea was able to talk with me in a way that I was comfortable and put me at ease so I was not as anxious and alone feeling. That meant so much to have a person that gave so freely of herself and seeing the actual concern on her face for me. When she was done talking to me I was not crying as much and was at a place of peace about my whole situation. She is an awesome nurse and you are lucky to have her. She treated me like she would treat family and that has become so rare in today’s world."
♥ Barbara Banks
"A patient's family member contacted me to let me know that they appreciated Barbara (from UHC Patient Registration) for helping get their family member's labs drawn! Barbara had a patient who was refusing to have his labs drawn, as the wife argued that he had to do it, Bard told the patient that she would take him back and stay with him if he would agree to get them done. Barb was able to get the patient into a wheelchair (which was difficult) and got him to go to the lab. Barb then waited on the patient to have his labs drawn!
Barb showed that patient that she cared about his well-being and concerns! As always Barbara went above and beyond for our patients!"
♥ Traci Meissel and Kim Alabaugh
"Kim had a patient call because he was scheduled at the Wabash Valley Surgery Center (WVSC), and he didn’t get a time of arrival. Someone from here had called his home number but did not leave a message. Kim dug through the shred bin and found the WVSC schedule for that day, and it had 7:00 am but she was not sure if it was the arrival time or surgery time. She took it to Traci and she went above and beyond to help assist the gentleman.
Traci called the surgery scheduler at the hospital, and she started to look as well. Then, she called the house supervisor, and the surgery scheduler called back and found that the surgery time was 7:00 am at WVSC and advised them to have the patient arrive between 5:00 am and 5:30 am. Kim advised the patient of the arrival time and he was fine with that.
They both went above and beyond to assist this patient."
♥ Matt Pape
"Matt is a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where the sickest patients in the hospital are cared for. Matt had a patient whose spouse could not visit – as the patient's spouse had been admitted, for separate reasons, and was on a different floor of the hospital. It was an end-of-life situation, and Matt was concerned that the couple would not see one another again, so Matt put all of his ICU patient’s monitors and equipment on backup power and moved his patient out of the ICU and to the spouse’s room for the day - so that the two could see each other and be with family all day. Matt was on-hand and carefully observed his patient throughout the visit. Matt’s compassion gave the family a final chance to be together. One of the family members in the room that day, a granddaughter who was also a nursing school student, was so touched by Matt’s compassion that she decided to join Union Hospital upon graduation. She shared Matt’s story with the nursing team when she started, resulting in Matt becoming the first person in Union Health to receive a heart for his badge."
♥ Sam Beasly and Shelby Shelton
“Sam Beasly and Shelby Shelton need to be recognized for their hard work and caring for a hospice patient for 6 days. They have been doing their charting at the computer in his room and taking turns with him so when he does pass, he will not be alone. After reading the story, a conversation followed and we learned the patient does not have a great deal of family support and shared when his cognition was better that he didn’t want to go through this alone."
♥ Amy Chenault
"Amy had been in the ER and overheard a family with young children who had been waiting for some time. They were hungry and did not have money for food. Amy purchased food and snacks from the cafeteria and took it to them."
♥ Penny Clark
"Penny Clark was seen paying for an elderly woman’s coffee and a granola bar. She saw that the woman only had a few pennies and dimes in her pocket and knew she would not be able to pay for the coffee and granola bar on her own so she ran over and paid for her things. The woman was so grateful and was crying for how much she appreciated the gesture."
♥ Dana Powell, Jamie Witt Cox, and Bill Cross
"A couple was shopping at Walmart across from Thomas Plaza and the husband was having chest pains. The wife thought Thomas Plaza was an emergency clinic and brought him in. Three radiology techs gave the man CPR and got him breathing and called 911."
♥ Jessica Crafton
"On Friday, Jessica left work, taking 8th Avenue home. She was about to cross the railroad tracks when she noticed a patient, that frequently visits our facility, struggling in his wheelchair to cross the tracks. He had a box full of records in his lap that made his struggle even harder. Jessica pulled over to assist him across the tracks when he was explaining his destination. Without hesitation, Jessica continued to push him from the tracks on 8th Avenue to Lafayette Avenue towards the Dollar General.
Jessica is always going above and beyond for our patients. This is a prime example of true compassion!!!"
♥ Carmelita Spivey
"Last week when we were having torrential rains Carmelita was leaving the MOB and there were several patients standing outside waiting for the rain to lighten up. Despite everyone waiting for 20 minutes, the rain kept pouring. She offered her umbrella to several patients but they didn't accept. So she ran to her truck and pulled to the overhang at the MOB and shuttled patients to their cars so they wouldn't get wet. She then drove to the POB and helped more people to their cars as well, since it was still pouring down. What a great display of excellent customer service and empathy. I would like to thank Carmelita for going the extra mile for our patients!"
♥ Jose Dael
"Jose always goes out of his way to accommodate not only the patients’ needs but also the nursing staff. He is always pleasant to work with and such a great help. Thank you for all you do! You are a great asset!"
♥ Peggy Didier and Matt Forsythe
"A local business leader (Bill) called me to praise the nurses in Interventional Radiology. He is going to provide them lunch and possibly make a donation to the Foundation for them with the Guardian Angel program. While he mentioned the entire team, he said that there were two nurses who really stood out. Those individuals were Peggy Didier and Matt Forsythe. Bill’s mother had been a regular patient coming in every two weeks for a paracentesis. Bill said that his mom looked forward to seeing these two staff. The individuals were so thoughtful and caring as it was many times uncomfortable during the procedure. They went out of their way to ensure that every need was met. Then they would laugh and talk with her to get her mind off the procedure. He described them as “outstanding, attending to whatever she needed”. He said that it was just a good feeling that he knew that his mom was getting the very best care from this team."
♥ Melissa Dowell
"Melissa was searching for a parking space in the parking lot east of the POB the other day. She came upon an elderly woman. Melissa said she appeared to be lost or looking for something. Melissa stopped and asked her if she could be of any assistance. The elderly woman was searching for her car. Melissa said she would help her look. They got into Melissa’s car because the woman had a little trouble getting around. They drove up and down the aisles in that parking lot, the surgery center parking lot, the parking lot in front of the east building, the POB parking lot and eventually found the woman’s car 20 minutes later in the Medical Office Building parking lot."
♥ Robert “Nick” Durr
"I would like to recognize Nick for displaying excellent patient care and compassion with a very young pediatric patient last night towards the end of my shift. The patient was experiencing multiple seizures and very ill. Nick stayed with the patient soothing her until staff in ER was able to stabilize her. By doing this, he was also able to effectively communicate with staff just before the patient was seizing as well as after."
♥ Lois Dyer
"A patient was dropped off at the West building looking for Bone and Joint Center. He was in a motorized wheelchair. Lois walked him all the way over to the Bone and Joint Center to be certain he got where he needed to go."
♥ Polly Fullom and Alisa Scholl
"A 54-year-old patient with terminal cancer has a peg tube that leaked during his overnight feedings. It was placed in Indy and not one we are familiar with. I spoke with Polly Fullom and Alisa Scholl to see what could be done. Alisa was able to contact the company rep and he shipped us “sample” replacement adapters. The new adapter worked and the peg tube no longer leaks. Both the patient and the mom were very thankful for UH going out of their way to fix this problem. The patient stated he should be able to sleep now without worrying if it's going to leak."
♥ Lisa Gayer and Taylor York
"Lisa Gayer, PTA and Taylor York, Rehab tech walked into a room on the 4th floor 9/19 at 4 pm. The patient was confused. The patient is a total “feed” which means the patient cannot feed herself. They realized that the food tray was delivered at 2:30 pm and the patient had not been fed yet. They informed the nursing staff. After taking care of the patient’s therapy needs, they both decided that Taylor would stay behind to feed the patient. The patient ate 100% of the food. They both took the time to understand the patients’ needs and took care of it. I appreciate them going above and beyond."
♥ Sarah Glendening
"Last Thursday Sarah Glendening received a phone call from a physician’s office about a diabetic patient that was not managing her sugars at home. According to the log, the way the patient was keeping her sugars was not consistent and the staff requested Sarah’s help with follow-up on the patient. The patient was receiving home care services and Sarah contacted the home care agency. According to the home care providers, they were doing everything they felt they could to try to manage the patient. Sarah felt she needed to do a home visit to assess the patient’s cognitive status and to see if there was anything else she could pick up on. I suggested that she also take a nurse with her to educate if needed. Sarah and Connie Smith went to the patient’s home. When they arrive at the patient’s home, she was not feeling well. Connie had her check her blood sugar, and it was in the 30s. Connie had the patient start drinking some juice and trying to eat a snack. At that time the patient’s consciousness started to decline and Sarah called 911. By the time the ambulance arrived the patient was basically non-responsive and was given glucose in the home and transferred to ER."
♥ Beth Greenberg
"Beth, a member of the information services team, was dining at Applebee’s, and saved someone who was choking by performing the Heimlich maneuver."
♥ Carla Hamman
"Carla Hamman, front office staff from OP Therapy North at Bone & Joint. Carla learned that one of the patients did not have any financial means to take care of his cats. Carla went above and beyond by buying cat food and taking the cat food to his house. That patient was very appreciative."
♥ Carla Hamman and Lindsey Roberts
"Carla Hamman and Lindsey Roberts learned that a family dog had bitten a young child. They both worked together with the patient’s family to arrange placement for the dog so that the child will be safe. The family was extremely grateful for the assistance."
♥ Tiffany Hein
"Someone overheard Tiffany Hein on the phone with a patient completing the pre-reg process, the patient had some concerns about the test she was having done and that it might not cover all the pain she was having so Tiffany spoke with the schedulers regarding the exam and then went a step further to contact the physician’s office to confirm if additional tests needed to be added, the outcome was that the office did add additional testing for the patient to ensure her needs were met. Awesome customer service and an example of going about and beyond for our patients."
♥ Sue Hoopengarner
"I would like to recognize Sue Hoopengarner for all she does for the families and nursing staff in the NICU. Sue is always available to our unit and labor room 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Recently, we have had several babies and families that we have asked Sue to come and speak with and give support to. When a family has a baby in the NICU there is a lot of stress on the family, most of our patients have positive outcomes, but recently we have had babies born very early that the chance of survival is very low, the stress and heartache can be unbearable for these families. The nursing care that is involved with these babies is very stressful and time-consuming, so that is one place where Sue steps in to help. Sue has nursing experience in these areas and is able to jump in and help and speak with the parents and answer the parents' questions, and the nurses are able to focus on the patient.
Sue is a good liaison between families and medical staff, she is always available to the families to talk at any time and bring the families concerns to us, which the family may be afraid to speak to us about. Because it is so overwhelming to have a 23-24 weeker, or a baby with a disability that has a very low chance of survival or has a decent quality of life, the parents have trouble retaining all the information and changes that we give them, that is where we always can depend on Sue to step in, speak with the nursing staff and neonatologist and be the liaison to the family. She can take them to a quiet place away from all the monitors of their infant's bedside, sit down with them and explain all that is going on with the baby and what the changes are, and what the plans are. She at this time can bring back any concerns the parents have, get the answers, and speak again with the family.
Losing a baby has to be the most gut-quenching experience that a family can go through, this may be a stillborn or a baby that dies 3-4 weeks after delivery. Sue has stayed multiple nights in her office, or in the NICU or the labor room, and is with the family every step of the way of this horrible time. After a baby passes away, she stays with the family, lets the family hold the baby, takes pictures of the baby by itself and with the family, She bathes the baby and will bring it to the parents at any time they would like to hold the baby while mom is still a patient here. She also takes time to help with phone calls to funeral homes, and speak with other family members.
The sacrifice Sue has made for the sickest and smallest patients of our NICU needs to be recognized. She gives her all for these families, is available to us all the time, and is always willing to help in any situation.
I would also like to talk about how she cares for our staff. When my sister had a miscarriage several years ago, the hospital she was at had no staff that was qualified to help her through this time, my first thought was to call Sue, she had books and pamphlets to me by the next day to give to my sister and also her number for my sister to call her if she needed anyone to talk with.
She attended my dad's funeral, texted me the year to the date my dad died to see how things were going and answered questions, and discussed ways to cope during this time.
She is always available to not only our patients but our staff.
Sue is beyond amazing and supportive to our staff and families, and I don’t know what our unit would do without her. "