The Heart of BIDMC
Human First: We Never Forget that Before You're a Patient, You're a Person
Anne Sullivan doesn’t need to be convinced that Beth Israel Deaconess is a great place. She’s been working at the medical center as a nurse since 1995. But it is her experience in the hospital as a patient that gives her even more pride. She remembers vividly how she was treated when she was told, for the second time, that her cancer had returned.
“Dr. [Robin] Joyce leaned over and gave me this hug … and said, ‘we need to get moving on this now,’” recalled Sullivan. “She and her team treated me like I was family. They were determined to get me well.”
They did just that. Four years and two bone marrow transplants later, doctors at BIDMC delivered her baby daughter Libby, too.
That spirit that is uniquely BIDMC is the centerpiece of a new, multi-media branding campaign launched this week called Human First. Ads that appear on television, radio, and throughout the city at T stations and bus shelters will underscore that at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, “we never forget that before you’re a patient, you’re a person.”
“Being in the military helped me understand that hospitals are teams … and I had a really great one — a lifesaving one working on me,” said Ernest Weathersby, a professional fisherman who was diagnosed with tumors in both kidneys. “You have to trust your team. I did. They were great.”
Weathersby, who has participated in hundreds of national pro tournaments over the years, became “hooked” on BIDMC after a first surgery at his community hospital failed to remove the entire tumor in his left kidney. He was referred to the robotics program and Dr. Drew Wagner, who was able to neatly remove both tumors before they spread to other organs.
“Fishing is peace for me,” said Weathersby, now 52. “I’m happy to be back doing what I love most.”
Ernie and Anne are two of the remarkable patient stories featured in our Human First campaign. Watch their TV commercials and extended videos of their stories at bidmc.org/humanfirst.
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Posted March 2013