When an adult patient settles into their hospital room at West Virginia University Hospitals-East’s Jefferson Memorial Hospital, a tiny towel bunny holding a Housekeeping Cares lip balm is there to welcome them.
This gesture of hospitality has earned Jefferson Memorial Hospital’s environmental services department company-wide recognition in Sodexo Health Care’s best practices award program. Sodexo, an organization that provides food and facilities management services to hospitals across the country, manages the environmental and food/nutrition services at Jefferson Memorial Hospital.
According to Joe Smith, district manager for Sodexo Health Care, the best practices program began out of a grass roots effort of managers wanting to share their experiences to help fellow managers within the Sodexo organization. “Years ago, we began posting these best practices on our internal web site for all of our managers to view and utilize. With such a talented team, we don’t need to recreate the wheel when a need or challenge arises,” Smith explains.
On occasion an idea or process comes along that warrants the national recognition that the environmental services team at Jefferson Memorial recently received. According to Suzanna Weaver, senior aide in the environmental services department, patients just love the bunnies, commonly referred to as “boo boo bunnies”.
“We really enjoy seeing the expressions on our patients’ faces when they see the bunnies,” Weaver commented, adding, “Putting a smile on the face of a person who is not feeling well is what makes my job so enjoyable.”
Since Jefferson Memorial Hospital implemented the program over a year ago, patient satisfaction scores have increased. Some patients have even mentioned the bunnies in their survey comments. “Our patient satisfaction scores are consistently in the middle to upper 90s,” stated Don Breon, manager of environmental and food/nutritional services. “I’m very proud of my team here at Jefferson Memorial Hospital.”
