My Dad just was discharged from a 4 day stay at Good Shepherd Hospital. He started out in the emergency room with abdominal and back pain and he was scared as he didn't know if he might be having some heart issues or just what might be going on. Many tests were run and he was admitted to the hospital that afternoon. I know it is common for a hospital to have to wait, but it seemed like my poor dad had to do a lot of it. It seemed like there wasn't a lot of communication and THAT was what my dad and all of us needed. WE were very frustrated and my Dad who is usually a very mild mannered man wasn't mild mannered and showed his frustration.

It wasn't until your wonderful nurse, Cindy Wertz, became my Dad's nurse that we finally felt like we were getting some answers. When we first met Cindy she actually told my Dad she understood his frustrations, she said she would call down to radiology and see if she could get results. Honestly we thought, "Sure the other nurses have said things like that, but always came back 2 hours later saying no results yet!" We were wrong, Cindy came right back to Dad's room and explained that for this particular test only a few radiologists could read the test, but she would keep calling and see what she could do. Honestly, that was all we needed to hear, we understood then. About an hour later though, we found Cindy was a woman of her word and we got a preliminary report. It finally seemed like we had a nurse that cared. She was constantly communicating with us about when the doctor would be in soon to see us. "Get your questions ready" she said to us. Cindy was a communicator- Cindy could see how hard the waiting was and how we were scared-Cindy made us feel like she cared and you can tell she loves her job-Cindy is a credit to the nursing profession-she made us feel like a friend not just a number she checked off on her box of patients.

I just wanted you to know how lucky you are to have Cindy on your staff. Cindy will always be known to our family as our angel during our stay. My Dad needs some surgery done, but we were able to take him home for a few days before the surgery. As my Dad was getting into the car sweet Cindy said, "Fred, I will be thinking of you. Good luck!" I know, in my heart she meant it, that's the kind of person you want working for you. You are very lucky.