COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Columbia VA Health Care System took time on Thursday morning to celebrate three national awards they just received.
The health care industry has been extremely busy since the coronavirus pandemic started. Workers spend long hours helping those impacted by COVID-19 and those with other health-related issues.
One of the hospitals here in the capital city who has been working hard is the Columbia VA Health Care System on Garners Ferry Road.
Eileen Ford is a nurse clinical documentation specialist at the Columbia VA.
"Today, we're celebrating the Lemonade Pledge, and it's all about improving patient experience," Ford said. "We're looking to see what we can do by surveys and through our own staff, just to see what we can do to make patients feel more welcome and happier and satisfied with our care."
Staff took the pledge about a year and a half ago with the principle of turning lemons into lemonade. It applies to the challenges they are currently experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In the middle of this pandemic, it does get very stressful so what we like to do is make sure that each and every one of us knows that even though we're wearing masks, we still care. We're still smiling behind these masks. We're still listening and trying to understand what the patient is saying. And we're trying to help each other by smiling and coming together. And everyone knows that they're not alone," explained Ford.
The Columbia VA Health Care System was recently recognized with the VA Patient Experience Award for Cultural Innovation, the Excellence Award in Social Work Leadership and the 2020 Excellence Award for Voluntary Services.
The Columbia VA says their trust score has increased from 84 to 90 percent over the past year.
With Thursday being National Lemonade Day, the health care system thought it was appropriate to celebrate their hard work during the morning.
David Omura, CEO of the Columbia VA Health Care System, says it's important to recognize their staff, especially during the pandemic.
"These are tough times. We know with our economy, there's a lot of people that are struggling out there. We were excited to work with a local business to have these cookies made," said Omura. "We are excited to get our team together to find ways to celebrate not only this day, but this week. We feel it's very important just in general to celebrate our staff and let them know how much we appreciate them."
Ford says it's great to be recognized for everything they have accomplished as a team.
"It makes it more of an exciting experience, exciting time to be here. It brings everyone together from different departments and sort of networking," said Ford. "Putting names and faces together and just bringing everyone together."