On Sunday, September 10, 2017, our 8-year-old granddaughter Serenity fractured her arm riding her 4-wheeler. A trip to the Harrington HealthCare emergency room in Webster confirmed the fracture and required orthopedic follow-up. I called on Monday to schedule the appointment and they were able to see her that afternoon. The result was she would need to have day surgery to reset the bones. The procedure was scheduled for Wednesday morning.
Our very thoughtful neighbors had bought her a stuffed animal to bring with her which she clutched onto for some added TLC. We arrived at Harrington Hospital in Southbridge early Wednesday morning with a very worried little girl about what was going to happen to her. Parking was easily accessible (and we did not have to pay!). The receptionist greeted us with a smile and directed us to the pediatric ward. Two pediatric nurses who were coming on shift heard where we were headed and smiled and said, “Follow us, we’re headed in that direction.” When we arrived on the floor, although it was a change of shift for the nursing staff, there was no delay in greeting us and showing us to our room. Once again it was smiles, a pleasant introduction and a very clean room we were shown to. After the nursing report was given, the day nurse came to our room and described everything that was going to happen. A very experienced nurse who helped ease the anxiety for all of us.
We were then brought to a holding room near the Operating Room and EVERY ONE of the staff who would be involved in the case came to say hi, introduce themselves and review her chart and what procedure would be done. The two anesthesia doctors that were responsible for her airway took the time to play a guessing game of what Serenity’s Unicorn’s name was. They had her smiling and feeling very at ease. One of us was allowed to go into the room with her until she was asleep. Of course, she chose her Grampy. They gave him the appropriate clothing to wear and off they went to take care of Serenity’s arm.
We went back to Serenity’s room on the pediatric floor and waited. It was a fairly quick procedure and we were allowed to be with her in the recovery room. She looked awesome. The OR staff had even taken the time to give her stuffed animal a matching cast. The recovery room nurses were very pleasant. As soon as Serenity was cleared to leave the recovery room, her nurse came back to get us and bring us back to the pediatric floor. The nurse was wonderful.
I cannot say enough about our experience. It is the little things that make such a big difference in the experience we had. Right from not having to pay for parking, people’s smiles and easy mannerism to an extremely well kept, clean facility.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such wonderful caring people.
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