Access employee goes toe to toe with comfort
Knitting together warmth and customer service
An employee in the patient access department at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, OR, has taken customer service to a new level.
Joy Lindner, a retired schoolteacher who works at the information desk at the hospital, part of Providence Health System, oversees a burgeoning volunteer enterprise that provides "toe warmers" to protect the toes of patients with casts on their legs.
At the end of January 2003, Lindner and her crew of knitters had distributed 3,733 of the brightly colored creations to patients at Providence and well beyond, she says. A nurse in the emergency department (ED) at Providence St. Vincent told her about some cast-wearing colleagues who were complaining about their cold toes.
"The yarn store lady helped me devise a pattern, and the two [employees] in the ED loved it," she says. "They thought it would be fun if patients could have them."
Lindner says she did the knitting alone for about six months and then was joined by another volunteer. "We started doing it for Providence St. Vincent ED only, then more people got interested, and we expanded to the orthopedic and fracture clinic. The volunteers told friends, who told friends."
For the first two years, the knitters provided their own yarn, which meant there was variation in the quality of the materials, she says. After Barbara Wegner, regional director for access services, acquainted Providence higher-ups with the program, the project received a healthy infusion of cash, Lindner adds, which meant she could provide knitters with the "wonderful, stretchable yarn" she preferred.
It costs about $1.95 for the yarn for one toe warmer, and takes about four hours to knit one, Lindner notes.
Growing and giving
An article in the newsletter for hospital volunteers led to more knitters joining the effort, she says, and various donations continue to fund the project. In addition to supplying Portland clinics and EDs, the group has sent toe warmers to Providence hospitals in Medford, OR, and Anchorage, AK.
"[The knitters] have never met all together," Lindner adds, "and a lot of them have nothing to do with the hospital." Finished toe warmers are deposited in a small cupboard at the information desk, she explains.
People in the areas receiving the toe warmers call and order them in different colors, so they can offer patients a choice, Lindner notes, "so we like to have a variety on hand. We really get fancy at Halloween and Christmas."
In addition to her information desk duties, various special projects for the patient access department, and coordinating toe warmer production, she writes a newsletter for her knitters. In one issue, Lindner dramatically recounts how a serious toe warmer shortage was averted and concludes by welcoming a new volunteer to the group.
She wrote, "You’re gonna like this!"
[Editor’s note: Joy Lindner can be reached at (503) 639-3833 or by e-mail at [email protected].]
An employee in the patient access department at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, OR, has taken customer service to a new level.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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