Dear Palm Garden Family,
We focus on our Values as a roadmap for Making Healthcare Great Again. The Palm Garden Family wears its Mission, Vision and Values on its sleeve. We make Integrity, Respect, Commitment, Compassion, and Service to Others so much more than words. We bring them to life every day in how we provide comfort to those in need, how we heal those in pain, and how we celebrate life stories.
Sometimes those stories are heartbreaking. They touch us and compel us to act on our Values. Please read the example of Service to Others below. It comes to us from Palm Garden of Jacksonville:
“Mr. R.S. was admitted to our center back in October. He and his wife traveled from their home in Indiana to Jacksonville so he could receive treatment for his many complex medical issues at Mayo Hospital. Since then he has been in and out of Mayo for various planned medical procedures. Unfortunately, his condition hasn’t improved. He continues to decline.
A few weeks ago, his very distraught wife came to my office. She broke down and cried as she told me what she and her husband had faced since coming to Florida to see the Mayo physicians. It was every spouse’s worst nightmare, fighting against the odds to keep her 58 year old husband from dying. She recounted every surgery, most of which either failed or caused terrible complications, and her struggle to be here in a strange city, without family support. Imagine their fear and anxiety- fighting to survive while 5 states away from home- no family support. She told me at this point she and her husband just want to go back to Indiana. But in his medical condition he can’t go by a car, ambulance, or even by commercial flight. She had looked into the cost of an air ambulance and the cost was astronomical. They simply didn’t have the thousands of dollars to pay for the air ambulance flight.
It was heartbreaking to listen to their struggles. I recommended that she have a family member set up a Go Fund Me account. She said a family member had offered to do that. I told her that her Palm Garden Family would hold a fundraiser to put money towards the cost of the flight as well as help her investigate other possible less expensive air ambulance services.
The next day Mr. S was scheduled to return to Mayo for yet another operation. He is on dialysis and he needed surgery to put in another shunt. Mrs. S said that this was the last possible place that a shunt could be placed. While he was in surgery he coded. He ended up on a vent. He’s been at Mayo now for 3 weeks. He is off the vent and will be returning to our community soon.
Our center held a barbeque fundraiser today to benefit Mr. and Mrs. S. They are our family, and we are the only Family they have in Jacksonville. As of right now, we’ve raised $400. We are expecting to raise over $500 once we’ve collected other pledged donations. Mrs. S came to our fundraiser. She was moved to tears. His case managers at Mayo came too. We also had case managers from other hospitals and many vendors attend. They were impressed that our center would help a family in this manner. They’d never seen anything like it.
I am so proud of our Palm Garden of Jacksonville family! Every department participated in order to hold this event. What a TEAM!”
– Jan Davis
Executive Director
Jacksonville
I think we can all be proud of this fantastic example of our Value- Service to Others. And regardless of the money raised, if it was a dollar or if it was 20,000- this act of kindness embodies the spirit and intent of our GEM program. “See a need- fix it.” As the son of a father and mother who faced the same choice- stay here in Florida or spend upwards of $22,500 to fly home where we have support- I was moved as I read Jan’s words. Its traumatic, nerve wracking, petrifying. I remember vividly the day my dad, mom, and brother took off in an air ambulance. I felt like I might never see them again in this life. Broken, I wept.
Knowing I am a member of the Palm Garden Family. A group of people that brings to life words like Values and Service to Others in their deeds- has me feeling a different emotion today. Pride.
We are just so proud of our Palm Garden of Jacksonville family! You have set an example for all of us to follow.
Kind regards,
Luke Neumann
Senior Director of Service
And Relationship Development