Making Magical Moments

Before coming to The Bradley Center in 2011, I was CEO of Meadowbrook Specialty Hospital, an 86-bed critical care hospital, in Lafayette Louisiana.  Meadowbrook cared for patients with critical conditions like severe wounds, chronic infections and patients with pulmonary conditions that required long term mechanical ventilation.  Most of our patients stayed in the hospital for 30 days or more.  It was a tough patient population to take care of, very sick patients with complicated medical needs but we had a great staff that provided great care on a daily basis.

In 2009, the melting snow from a heavy winter up north was causing the Mississippi River to flood further south.  The flooding was threatening the levees and the city of New Orleans itself.  Slightly upriver from New Orleans is the Bonne Carre Spillway, a series of locks along the river that can be opened and drain the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya Basin, flooding the basis but saving the city.  The governor made the tough decision to open the Spillway.  One of our patients at the time, Mr. Nelson Landry, confided in his physical therapist, Patricia Simione, that he was scared because his home was in the Basin and he feared he’d lose what few possessions he had, including his family bible that dated back generations.   Patricia reassured him that it would be alright.  

What Patricia did next was remarkable:  The next morning, a Saturday, she borrowed Mr Landry’s keys, rounded up a couple of fellow staff members and the hospital van, and drove to Butte LaRose deep in the Atchafalaya.  They secured Mr Landry’s home and belongings, sandbagged the property, turned on the pump and brought back specific items that Mr Landry had asked for.

Patricia never said a word to me about it, nor did any of her colleagues.  The only reason I know the story is because Mr Landry told me about it Monday morning, as he lay in his bed at the hospital, clutching his family bible, tears in his eyes.  

Disney calls it “making magical moments:” Seeing the world through your customer’s eyes, determining what they might want, and then acting before you are asked. That simple act is all the difference between good and great.  And because of Patricia's ability to "make magic", Mr. Landry thinks that little 'ol Meadowbrook Hospital is the best hospital in America.