As always, Heather leads by example. She is never unavailable to staff. She jumps in whenever anything needs to be done to assist staff. She always puts the best outcomes for our patients as the number one priority when making any decisions or communicating with staff. There have been numerous times throughout my time working with Heather that I have seen her exhibit a patient-centered approach to care, and this time is no different.

There was a unique situation with a patient in ICU. This patient came in very sick with a severe infection. Not only was this patient very sick, but she also had a very rare allergy to many different kinds of dialysis filters. Heather helped to research the exact type of dialysis filter that the patient could use, but unfortunately, it wasn’t one that was stocked at FGH. After many calls, it was discovered that they had the filter needed for the patient at a hospital in Jackson that was willing to loan us some filters. Without any hesitation, at 4:30 in the afternoon, Heather stated, “I’m going to Jackson to get these filters.” She realized this was the only chance this patient had of survival, and she didn’t hesitate to do what was best for this patient.

While leaving the hospital, Heather didn’t stop looking for a better resource for these filters. She located a dialysis unit in Magee that actually had some of these same filters that they no longer needed, and this dialysis unit donated 36 filters to FGH for free. Heather got to Magee, got the donated filter, and got them back to the hospital so that the patient could be emergently dialyzed. Heather is an exceptional leader, and one that our ICU and Forrest General are grateful to have on our team.