During National Hospital Week, Baptist Memorial hospitals honored you – the heart of Baptist. Hospitals distributed “Believe in Heroes” Hospital Week T-shirts for team members to wear on Friday and planned special activities throughout the week. Keep reading to learn how hospitals celebrated, including an 80s themed party, therapy dogs, a strawberry festival and, of course, ice cream!
Baptist Carroll County
Baptist Carroll County started off its Strawberry Festival with ice cream sundaes in the cafeteria, followed by a pancakes and parfaits breakfast on Tuesday. Later in the week, team members enjoyed afternoon strawberry smoothies and a “Chef’s Special Snack Attack.” On Friday, team members indulged in a picnic with strawberry shortcakes!
Baptist Crittenden
Baptist Crittenden got into the Hospital Week spirit by inviting team members to wear fun costumes and arranging delicious surprises from the “Hungry Heroes” snack cart! Team members also enjoyed a visit from Silvia’s food truck.
Baptist DeSoto
Baptist DeSoto celebrated Hospital Week with an 80s themed party with lots of neon and a fiesta block party with Mexican food. The block party included a dunk tank with several volunteers splashing in the water: David Mitchell, system leader for Emergency Management; Brian Hogan, Baptist DeSoto administrator and CEO; Cody Brasfield, nurse manager; Dexter Akins, nurse manager; and Dr. H.F. Mason, Baptist DeSoto chief medical officer and system chief quality officer.
Baptist Golden Triangle
At all events held during Hospital Week, senior leadership served team members working both day and evening shifts. On Monday, senior leaders served a variety of flavors of pre-bagged Kettle Korn, and the Marketing department kicked off a bottled water and canned food drive, which will continue through the end of May. Canned goods will be donated to Helping Hands of Columbus, while the bottled water will be donated to the Loaves & Fishes Community Soup Kitchen of Columbus.
On Tuesday, team members participated in free health screenings at the annual Employee Health Fair. At the fair, team members also received educational information on nutrition, organ and tissue donation, and stress and anxiety self-screening. Doctors from Golden Triangle’s Internal Medicine Residency program were on hand to answer questions.
Colleagues enjoyed the annual hamburger and hotdog cookout on Wednesday under the big tent on the 5th Street lawn. Wesley Wallace, Baptist Medical Group regional director of Operations, and Rick Freeze, director of Baptist Behavioral Health-Golden Triangle, operated the grill for the cookout.
On Thursday, team members made their own ice cream sundaes. The special events concluded Friday with breakfast featuring a selection of treats from the Ole Country Bakery in Brooksville, Mississippi. Some of the Baptist Golden Triangle leaders serving breakfast included Chief Financial Officer Thomas Steadman, Chief Medical Officer Dr. James Martin and Chief Executive Officer Rob Coleman.
Baptist Memphis
Baptist Memphis kicked off Hospital Week with a “Sail Away” party with food, games and prizes. On Tuesday, team members participated in “Blessing of the Hands” in the Chapel. Night-shift colleagues visited with the chaplain, who made rounds. On Wednesday, team members enjoyed a “Glow” party with popcorn, desserts, games and music. Hospital Week wrapped up with a “Baptist Idol” competition on Thursday and a “Beach Day” with food trucks on Friday.
Baptist Tipton
Baptist Tipton team members enjoyed a fun cookout on campus on Friday afternoon.
Baptist Union City
On Monday, Stacie Britt, director of case management; Nicky Thomas, director of Human Resources; and Skipper Bondurant, Baptist Union City administrator and CEO, served breakfast to colleagues. Later in the week, hospital leaders served ice cream to team members.
Members of the Union City High School Key Club also presented team members with Life Savers candy. On Friday, colleagues enjoyed wearing their “Believe in Heroes” T-shirts, and the Beulah Baptist Association provided meals.
Baptist Women’s Hospital and Baptist Children’s Hospital
Baptist Women’s Hospital and Baptist Children’s Hospital celebrated their Baptist All-Stars! They started the week with Chick-fil-A breakfast sandwiches and moved on to “Nacho Average Team” chips and cheese trays on Tuesday and a smoothie and coffee bar on Wednesday. On Thursday, “Take me out to the Ballgame” featured Cracker Jack snacks, peanuts and popcorn. On Friday, team members enjoyed a “Tailgate Cookout” with hamburgers and hot dogs. They held contests for decorating jerseys and guessing jars.
Mississippi Baptist Medical Center
MBMC celebrated Hospital Week with a red-carpet theme called “Putting the Spotlight on Team Members.” MBMC’s Wellness Center offered week-long specials, including free access, personal training specials, classes and the opportunity to join without a fee. MBMC’s Volunteer Auxiliary provided chicken biscuits for breakfast and hot dogs for dinner on Tuesday.
Amy Cross, nurse manager for the Postpartum unit, and Tina Magers, director of staff development, brought certified therapy dogs Lucas and Bella to visit the staff.
Team members enjoyed movie trivia, Plinko money machine and refreshments on Wednesday. Thursday featured lunch and dinner of either hamburgers or pulled pork with all the fixings, provided by Burgers & Blues, a local barbecue restaurant. On Friday, team members had a traditional breakfast and afternoon ice cream.
Corporate
Corporate started out the week with a “Breakfast for Heroes,” featuring Chick-fil-A. Dr. Keith Norman, vice president of government relations and chief community relations officer, led a “Blessing of the Hearts and Minds” via Microsoft Teams. Team members also helped create a “Where Love Abounds” mural.
Corporate also hosted a guessing jar contest. Team members voted for their favorite jars and guessed how many items were in them. Here are the submissions and winners:
- Team Revenue Audit—The Candy Cane Crew: Winner is Letorcia Walton. This jar was submitted by team members Cynthia Thompson-Davis, Cassander Green, Patricia Winfield and Tamala Smith.
- Team HAPPY! Healthy Active Pets and People, YAY!: Winner is Robbin Hall-Baggett. Team members Melissa Powers, Cathy Webb, Susan Burnett and Laurie Christensen submitted the HAPPY! jar.
- Privacy and Security Team: Winner is Jenna Cutshall. This jar was submitted by team members Robbin Hall-Baggett, Kaye Ragan, Gary Sparks and Laura Cummins.
- System HIM Team: Winner is Brazille Morgan. Team members Angela Baker, Carol Ingram, Kathy Tong and Kevin Chappell submitted this jar.
- The Milky Ways: Winner is Althea Hill. This jar was submitted by team members Brionne Beckman, Lisa Wynn, Angela Stembridge and Carrie Moore.
- Winner of the Best Jar Award was Team HAPPY!
On Tuesday, colleagues took “Laps with Leaders,” 20-minute walks with Corporate leaders. On Wednesday, Lia Lansky, system director of Wellbeing, hosted “Lift with Lia,” a 15-minute strength workout via Teams.
Team members also enjoyed a popcorn snack in the lobby, which also included a visit from Mid-South Therapy Dogs and Friends, including Ben, the 9-year-old black Labrador Retriever with his handler, Jo Lynn; Willow, the 4-year old Golden Retriever and her handler, Alisa; and Maxie, the 8-year-old Bernedoodle and her handler, Robin.
The Baptist Mobile Mammography Unit was available for mammograms.
On Thursday, Lia hosted “Good Morning Stretch,” a 15-minute stretch at desks via Teams. CONCERN Employee Assistance Program (EAP) hosted “Breathe with CONCERN,” a 15-minute guided breathing exercise via Teams.
On Friday, around 300 team members enjoyed a picnic with hamburgers, hotdogs, Mempops, and games, including UNO, Jenga GIANT and cornhole.
