SMC staff appreciated during National Hospital Week
LEFT: Shoshone Medical Center staff celebrate National Hospital Week. TOP RIGHT: SMC Staff in a highly competitive cornhole tournament. BOTTOM RIGHT: CEO/CFO Tom Lewis and staff prep food for National Hospital Week.
Courtesy photos
KELLOGG — Working in the health care field can often be a thankless and tiring job, so it’s essential to take time and appreciate those working in such a position. National Hospital Week is celebrated every year during the first full week of May.
This year it happened to coincide with National Nurses Week which begins annually on May 6 and ends on Florence Nightingale’s birthday, May 12.
Shoshone Medical Center, as well as its outer branches, extending to the business building and the clinic, took the week celebrating its employees and most importantly having fun.
National Hospital Week recognizes hospital workers in every hospital setting, including long-term, short-term, children’s hospitals, Veterans Health Administration and psychiatric hospitals. These services fill a vital need in communities, and every nurse, doctor, practitioner and staff member is necessary to deliver the compassion and quality services needed.
Cendra Graham, the Administrative Assistant to the CEO/CFO, added to the importance of this week by explaining,
“Being available and ready to provide emergency, inpatient, and outpatient medical care takes tremendous training, expertise and commitment,” Graham said.
“This week provides an opportunity to recognize and thank each of our Shoshone Medical Center team members for their dedication in providing these services to our local communities. This local celebration also recognizes their contributions to the medical field and commitment to the many patients we serve.”
Daily bingo drawings were held, volleyball tournaments at the Smelterville location, and catered snacks and lunches were provided throughout the week. Most importantly, a competitive cornhole tournament is still actively being played, with the different teams organized by the various departments within the hospital. Some of the prizes awarded were a pickleball tournament set, Roomba vacuum, paddleboard, air fryer and outdoor fire table. In addition, the future cornhole tournament winners will receive a group gift basket.
Graham explained that although it’s for fun, everyone experiences some healthy competition.
“It’s been a week of fun and friendly competition. We have had a winning and losing bracket for cornhole, and everyone has gotten pretty competitive,” she said.
The week is important for morale and helps with team building and mingling with those in departments you might not often see.
‘It’s great to see people from different departments that you don’t normally see. It can be fun to mingle with people you don’t get to see a lot,” Graham said.
SMC Chief Executive Officer, Paul Lewis, was also excited to see employees from different departments and locations get together and have a good time.
“We have people here at the hospital in Kellogg, but we also have staff in Pinehurst and Smelterville, and it’s just an excellent opportunity to bring everyone together,” he said. “It’s also an opportunity to do our annual Employee of the Year award. The Employee of the Year will be announced at the July board meeting. This is the time that we take those applications in, and give our team members the chance to recognize each other.”
Lewis also wanted to recognize the backbreaking work that health care professionals have done, specifically through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is a great opportunity to recognize our team. Everyone knows that the pandemic was an incredibly challenging time. Particularly for health care, and our staff persevered through it. We just have an amazing team of professionals here. We like to take the opportunity to take a little down time, and show our appreciation,” Lewis said.
In an email to the SMC employees, Lewis wanted to give a special thanks to the health care week committee who planned and coordinated the meals and events: Karen Mann, Katie VanHoose, Amber Melun, Alicia Mitchell, Cendra Graham, Jerry Parmeley, Anna McVeigh, Ryan Mann and Casey Winchel. A thank you also goes to Brenda Mack for donating handmade blankets awarded to the bingo winners.
May continues to be a busy month for Shoshone Medical Center, with the Annual Senior Blood Draw taking place May 19 and 20 from 7-10 a.m. The 2022 Senior Health and Fitness Fair is coming up Tuesday, May 24, and is located at the SMC Community Outreach Center in Pinehurst. For more information about these events, please visit www.shoshonehealth.com.