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When David and Tallie K. left Mercy St. Charles Hospital with their newborn son, Charles Robert who was born on Nov. 1, 2006, they did not anticipate they would be taking him to another Mercy Hospital the following month.
"Mercy Children’s compassionate care impresses parents"
“When he was born, everything went smoothly, and he was perfectly healthy,” said David, who is an Application Systems Analyst in Mercy’ Information and Process Services Department. “But, several weeks later, he developed an abscess on his chest, and it was not healing. It kept getting worse, so his primary care physician sent us to Mercy Children’s Hospital. From the moment we arrived on Dec. 16 until the moment we departed on the afternoon of Dec. 19, 2006, we encountered people who must be some of the very best the hospital has to offer.”
David said bringing their son back to the hospital was understandably far less joyous an occasion than bringing him home had been. He and his wife were concerned about their son, but the staff at Mercy Children’s immediately put the couple at ease.
“Charles was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit,” David said. “They started him on IV antibiotics, and when that didn’t help, they had to open up the abscess, which required general anesthesia. The anesthesiologist, Rashed Hasan, MD, did a great job of explaining the drugs they would use and their potential side effects. We felt much better about it once we understood what was about to happen. And, best of all, the surgeon, George Mychaliska, MD, let us stay at his side the entire time, so there was no pacing or hand wringing while we sat in a waiting room wondering what was happening.”
Charles came through the procedure beautifully, and the swelling diminished almost immediately. Meanwhile the antibiotics kicked in, and in just a couple of days, Charles was well enough to return home.
As David and Tallie left the hospital with their infant son a second time, they also left with a new appreciation for Mercy Children’s.
“I was just really impressed with the compassion of everyone we came into contact with,” David said. “They made us feel our child was safe and being cared for in the best possible way. We really want to recognize the staff for all that they did for our family – from Penny McCamey’s genuine spirit and smiling face, to Melissa Wholehan’s pleasant manner and gracious gift of a soft blue hat, to Jeff Rafko’s thoughtful and engaging way, to Ellie Ducey’s wealth of knowledge and funny demeanor and Cheryl Shinaver’s friendliness and professionalism, (and many more who’s names we are unable to remember) – they each carried out their duties with compassion and tenderness.”
David said he now feels a greater sense of pride in his employer.
“As I continue to reflect on our stay, it is comforting to know that I work for an organization that provides the highest levels of excellence in caring,” he said. “Throughout a difficult time, each staff member we encountered strengthened our faith and reinforced our belief in the work of caring that is being done each and every day at Mercy Children’s Hospital.”
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