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| Media Contacts Mary Jo Wich Lois Kendall 314-525-4005 |
Release Date: 9/17/2009
Gillick's 'best job' made for unforgettable experience for hospice patient
Chris Gilick, honored for above-and-beyond patient service.
She worked in the dental health field for 10 years, then served as a stay-at-home mom for another 10.
And when Chris Gillick returned to work about a year ago, her job at de Greeff Hospice House was nothing short of memorable.
"Honestly, I think it's the best job I ever had," said Gillick, 40. St. Anthony's senior leaders feel much the same way about Gillick's performance. Recently, they selected her as the quarterly Above and Beyond award honoree from a field of monthly winners.
Now a lab tech aide in the Laboratory, Gillick was working in the kitchen at de Greeff when she went out of her way for a patient. Her regular duties included making up and distributing trays for patients according to their diets, helping feed patients, and helping to answer call buttons.
"It was so rewarding because I got so much out of it," she explained. "You give to people, but then you see the response."
Gillick always helps out wherever she can, her co-workers say. One day, while assisting a patient with his lunch, she noticed a book in his room, It Shined-The Saga of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. The author, Ozark Mountain Daredevils bassist Michael "Supe" Granda, had grown up in Chris' South County neighborhood, and her patient was a big fan of the group. Granda had since moved to Nashville.
Wouldn't it be nice if I could get Granda to visit this patient, she thought.
"It was something I thought about for months: how do you do this?" Gillick recalled. "Then the opportunity just comes up - you gotta try. I really liked the patient, and I wanted to do something for him."
Gillick lives in South County with her husband, Larry. She has four stepchildren, Brad, Matt, Dan and Amy; and two children, Allie and Macy. One day she was talking on the phone with her sister, who was at the wake for Granda's dad in South County.
"I said, 'That is so bizarre.' I told her about the patient...she said, why don't we leave a note on his dad's door - she knew he was staying at his dad's house in St. Louis. So my sister left a note on his door."
Gillick crossed her fingers. Soon after, Granda contacted de Greeff to see if the patient was still there. Unannounced, he showed up on Memorial Day and visited the patient for an hour or two.
"Not only did he play guitar for the patient, but he sat down and read from his book to him," wrote one of Giillick's co-workers in nominating her for the award. "When I heard the story the next week it brought tears to my eyes. Not only did she make the patient's day, but she touched the hearts of his family and all of us here at the House. Thank you, Chris, for taking the time for such a sweet gesture. You are awesome!"
As a quarterly Above and Beyond award winner, Chris received her own parking space and eight hours of Earned Time Off (ETO). She also helped design her own salad with Nutrition Services staff, proceeds of which will be donated to her favorite charity.
That would be, of course, the de Greeff Hospice House.
For information, please call our Health Access Line at 314-ANTHONY (268-4669) or 800-554-9550 or visit our find a physician online.
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