NMMC Presents BEE Award to Brown
TUPELO, Mississippi—North Mississippi Medical Center recently presented a BEE (Beyond Exceptional Expectations) Award to respiratory therapist Peggy Brown.
Kathy Hogan, director of Respiratory Therapy, nominated Brown for kindness shown to a young patient from Texas who was injured while working in this area. “His accident left him on a ventilator and paralyzed. He does not have any family in the area, and his family members are only able to travel from Texas to visit occasionally,” Hogan wrote. “Following his family’s visit, the patient gets depressed.”
Because he is unable to use his extremities, the young man communicates with family via Facetime on his cell phone. Recently, his charging cord stopped working, and the tripod that cradled his phone for the calls broke. Brown purchased a new charging cord and phone cradle for the patient so he could once again communicate with his family.
Hogan also wrote about another incident where Brown showed compassion to the mother of a ventilator patient who had been hospitalized more than 40 days. “The patient’s mother stays with her. As you can imagine, she is beyond exhausted and dependent on food available to her here,” Hogan wrote. “Peggy brought this mother some home-cooked chicken and dumplings with cornbread. This is probably the first home-cooked meal that she has had in over a month.”
In her nomination, Hogan wrote, “May we all be so compassionate to each other and to those who allow us to care for them and their loved ones.”
Brown, who lives in Tupelo, has a combined 20 years of service at NMMC, working at both the main hospital and Women’s Hospital. She completed her respiratory therapy degree 35 years ago at Rolla Technical Institute in Rolla, Missouri, and worked in Missouri, Mississippi and Virginia before returning to NMMC 16 years ago.
The BEE Award is given to a deserving caregiver each month at NMMC. Winners receive a bouquet donated by Bishop’s Flowers, a certificate and cupcakes. Nomination forms are available throughout NMMC or at www.nmhs.net/bee-award. For more information, call (662) 377-3431 or email BEEAwards@nmhs.net.
