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Celebrate Excellent Care

Beebe Believer Again and Again

By Sally Cohen

No one wants to be sick. No one wants to be rushed to the hospital. No one wants to face the unknown. Everyone wants TLC and a clear path to good health. I found that at Beebe and I am a Beebe Believer!

Beebe Healthcare has a grassroots mission of quality care that is all about the patient having comfort, feeling well cared for and healing. My transition from fearing the future and moving into the excitement of growing stronger and better took a fleet of Beebe care professionals that worked seamlessly and continuously. It truly does “take a village!”

I would be entirely remiss if I did not first praise my wonderful surgeon, Dr. Mudiwa Munyikwa, my General Practioner Dr. Karen McGibbon from the Beebe Family Practice Millville, and the fine senior leadership of the hospital for their diligence in finding such high level health professionals.

A huge thank you and appreciation of support to Jody Barbarulo, Patient Advocate, for being there every day to visit, bringing her great smile and words of encouragement. Catherine Walls, Program Coordinator Patient Experience, for the continued hellos and offer to get me anything that I was missing. The time goes very slowly in a hospital bed and these caring individuals were such a bright spot. Jody, you single-handedly got me through many days.

The nursing staff makes hourly patient rounds and gets to know their patients and their needs. All the nurses that assisted me gave me good care and lived up to the high standards of Beebe Hospital. There were a few that I do need mention by name and thank individually for the extra, above and beyond the call of duty care that they extended me. They all did it with such ease that I know that it is their standard.

Melissa Floyd is a nurse that cared for me during both of my visits as a patient to the third floor. Melissa works nights (as so many of the nurses do) to coordinate her schedule at home with her family. When Melissa worked and was assigned to me, I always knew that in her quiet, thoughtful way I would be in great hands. She always had such a great attitude and her skills were top notch.
One night Melissa was not assigned to me, but was, rather, the charge

nurse for the shift. She could have used a nice rest on her break to put up her feet and just relax. Instead, Melissa came in to see if I wanted to go for a walk since she knew that it was important to me and helped me sleep better. I would prefer to never be a patient again, but if I am, I certainly hope to have Melissa’s care.

The following nurses I would like to acknowledge with the same respect and have many similar wonderful stories to mention but will suffice it to say they all went above and beyond and have left a lifelong impression:

Michelle Turin – Michelle got the dirty end of the stick so often with the evening shift. You are a saint, Michelle!
Amanda Rogers – Amanda took that extra time to explain and investigate and make me see the bright side. You remind me of my Mother in that way – the height of a compliment!
Libby Rendall – Libby always seemed to be there at my darkest moments and found a way to turn them around. She has a valuable gift to be able to look outside the box while adhering to every procedure. Libby has a good heart and a good mind – more like me than like my Mom, but, hey, that is not all that bad!

All the CNAs are taught to add comfort, anticipate need and be forever diligent. Thank you all! A particular shout out to Cathy Bugeda for all the baths, shampoos and most of all, the miles of walks you took with me.

There were so many individuals that touched my life while I went through procedure after procedure, two surgeries and endless X-rays and tests that I apologize for not mentioning each and every one, but I would like to offer a huge collective thank you for all you did for me.

My hat goes off to the entire Beebe family from the receptionist in the emergency room, X-ray technicians, transport team, the Hospitalists (I could write another whole article on them!), each and every RN and CNA, the food service and cleaning staff, the visiting clergy, trained visiting dogs and their caregivers. Thank you all for being the strong team that got me through my frightening health issues and on to the road to good health.

My wonderful husband and I now sit on the Patient Family Advisor Council at Beebe Hospital. It is indeed a pleasure and an honor to be of service and support to such compassionate individuals. I will always and forever be grateful.

The Beebe family thanks Sally Cohen for sharing her story and making a wonderful gift to honor and support everyone who provided her care. For more information about the Beebe Medical Foundation’s Celebrate Excellent Care program and how you can honor a Beebe team member and support Beebe Healthcare, our local non-profit community healthcare system, please go to www.beebemedicalfoundation/cec.

Caption for photo: (L-R) Thomas Protack, Dr. Mudiwa Munyikwa, Dr. Karen McGibbon, Libby Rendall, Catherine Walls, Melissa Floyd, Eric Cohen, Sally Cohen, Amanda Rogers, Jody Barbarulo, Cathy Bugieda and Judy Aliquo