Sheri puts patients first, no matter the situation. She is the OC in the Endoscopy department and cares for many of our patients herself. But through her leadership, her team care for our patients as Sheri would, with compassionate, safe, and loving care as though our patients are family. Sheri is first to volunteer to help in any crisis, one example of many is during the outage of the electricity (due to the severe weather), in the hospital this year. Preparing/prepping for a colonoscopy or EGD is more intense than even preparing for surgery. There are days of prepping, being NPO, only liquids, and the dreaded medication to clean your system out. Because we had no electricity and being on generator power, we had to cancel many patients that day, and reschedule. Due to maybe not having electricity the next day, we had the task of calling 30 plus patients to push back their start time the next day, late the night before. I called Sheri for help, and even though, she, herself did not have electricity, she offered to help. She began to call her physicians and patients – and this is where the compassion and care that Sheri always shows to each and every patient. Her main concern was that these patients had started their prepping already, she explained the situation, listened to the patient, and then answers all their questions. She spent much time with each on the phone, trying to make sure she, with their input, made the best decision for their care; no matter the inconvenience of the schedule or her time, she made it happen. While doing all of this, she was in her car, charging her phone to call, while reading under a battery lantern. I wish I could send you a picture. It was so extraordinary and gracious.

The empathy Sheri shows to her patients is amazing and so sincere, and as a leader, she cares for her employees with the same empathy. We all know if our employees feel cared about, and taken care of, then it reflects in their patient care. Sheri takes care of her team like no one else. Ask any of them, and they will say the same. So, through Sheri, not only do her patients experience the best and most sincere care, but her whole team mimics her compassion with the way they care for each patient. Sheri never toots her own horn, so I am here to do it for her. She has had the highest employee engagement scores for years, and Sheri’s compassionate care is why.