Revisiting the Rooles
One day, the president of Eastern Maine Medical Center received a heart felt letter:
“Dear Mr. Ledwin,
I’m very sad. I wanted to come visit my very close friend who had a baby at your hospital. I wasn’t able to visit because of your visiting rooles.” The writer had drawn a face with tears streaming down the cheeks.
This letter was written by a young girl named Natasha. She made it very clear that she had looked forward to being able to visit the new baby in the hospital but had been told that because of her age she would not be able to see the baby until he left the hospital and came home. Lorraine Rodgerson, EMMC’s Vice President of Nursing, called Natasha, who was very surprised to hear from EMMC. Mr. Ledwin sent her a letter thanking for telling us about her experience and letting her know what her letter had inspired at EMMC. Because of Natasha’s letter nursing and medical staff have begun exploring how EMMC’s visitors’ “rooles” looking for new ways to be sure we put the patient’s needs first—especially when it means visits from special young people who have waited nine months for a new friend to come into the world.
The Moral of the Story:
- Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world. Indeed, that’s all that ever has. -- Margaret Mead
- Sometimes it takes a small child to make a large institution stop and look at the way it’s always done things.
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