Everyday Heroes of Claremore Regional Hospital

Employees go above and beyond expectations in daily routines.

Claremore Regional Hospital’s Peggy Trease, marketing director, and Cheryl West, marketing coordinator, agree that the staff is essential in making the hospital the success it is today. Employees live up to the hospital’s mission statement daily by “providing exceptional compassion and care to each individual.”

“It takes our doctors, nurses, food and nutrition services, business office and maintenance department,” Trease says. “It takes every department of the hospital working together and with the community to make our hospital work so well.”

Trease and West both recalled stories about individuals and departments that were of great assistance during this past winter’s ice storms. “Many of our employees stayed overnight during the icy weather that struck our part of Oklahoma,” says Trease. “We set up sleeping areas so employees could stay overnight if they wanted to.” Hospitals do not shut down when weather conditions make roads difficult, unsafe or impossible to travel. Nurses were concerned because they had patients who still needed attention and healthcare around the clock. “Many of our nursing staff worked double shifts due to patient needs,” continued Trease. “None of our employees really thought they were doing anything extraordinary. They were just doing their jobs.”

“The maintenance staff went far above their duties during the storms,” says West. During the rough weather, they cleared ice from sidewalks and walkways and provided valet parking services to visitors, patients and other employees. When people needed to leave the hospital, the maintenance staff helped scrape ice off people’s windshields.

The way Claremore Regional Hospital employees responded during the winter storms is impressive, but upon further research, it was learned that their helping and caring attitude is exhibited everyday by the staff.

May 6 through 12 is National Hospital Week, and Trease thought it would be appropriate to pay tribute to those who work hard for Claremore Regional Hospital. The hospital will bring special recognition to various departments during the week. National Nurses Day will be celebrated, honoring nurses, ancillary services personnel, hospital staff and their departments.

In addition to having a staff of compassionate, dedicated individuals, Claremore Regional Hospital takes pride in the various nonprofit organizations its employees are involved in. “Numerous hospital employees are involved in community-related projects,” says Trease. The hospital encourages employees to partner with organizations like the American Red Cross and the United Way. “We are proud to have two ‘heroes’ for the American Red Cross in our organization: Jayne Charles, our business office director, and Ruby Marshall, our health information systems director,” Trease continued. The hospital gives to the community financially, as well, as it designated $61,050,648 for charity and discounted healthcare last year.

Claremore Regional Hospital’s Employee Leadership Group, an organization to encourage unselfish, helping behavior among employees, presents an Overall Service Compassion Award of Recognition each month. The OSCAR award is given to deserving employees who have exhibited exemplary qualities of giving back to the community. At the end of the year, a monthly winner is also selected as the Claremore Regional Hospital Employee of the Year.

The hospital currently employs 525 people, including 17 full-time physicians. The dedicated staff of Claremore Regional Hospital delivered 579 babies in 2006 and performed 3,075 outpatient surgeries and 1,298 inpatient surgeries. It admitted 4,075 patients and cared for a total of 19,282 patients throughout the year.

For more information, contact

Claremore Regional Hospital

www.claremorereghospital.com

About Author Duane Blankenship

Blankenship graduated from the University of Oklahoma and has enjoyed a lifetime career in advertising. He started his own advertising business in 1993 and enjoys creating graphic art and writing. Hobbies include hunting, fishing and pencil drawings. Duane and his wife, Janice, have been married over 50 years and are active in their church and community. He has been a contributing writer for Value News/Values Magazine since 2005.