Thank a Greenwood Leflore Hospital employee the next time you sit in one of the hospital’s renovated waiting rooms.
Employees have given more than $430,000 in the past five years toward improvements designed to make the hospital more inviting to patients and their families.
K.I.N.G., the hospital’s employee giving club, has replaced worn furniture on hospital grounds during its current campaign.
The waiting rooms for the emergency room, intensive care, surgery, wound care and pharmacy have all been upgraded in the past year. Improvements vary in each area but include new chairs, flooring, windows, flatscreen TVs and artwork.
More durable steel benches, tables and trash receptacles have been placed outside.
“We wanted to really put forth a good impression,” said Kerri Reaves, who co-chairs the employee giving committee with Debra Tate Hibbler.
Hibbler thanked employees for their generosity.
“We would like everyone to know how great our employees are. ... I think it speaks very well of them that they are willing to give back,” she said.
Reaves and Hibbler gave a tour Wednesday along with Christine Hemphill, director of the Greenwood Leflore Hospital Foundation.
They’re most proud of fixing up the surgery waiting room. Before it was referred to as the “bus stop,” an unflattering reference to its appearance. Now it’s more inviting and comfortable.
K.I.N.G. began in May 2006. It’s a committee of the overall hospital foundation and gives employees a chance to make changes they would like to see to the hospital.
Past projects include a more child-friendly pediatric wing, a security system for pediatrics, newborn nursery and labor and delivery and a better chapel.
• Contact Charlie Smith at csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
