Michele Briggs, Patient Access representative, became the 13th Blessing Hospital support staff member to receive the Honey Bee Award during a surprise presentation on Wednesday, June 12.

Michele received two nominations from her department coworkers. The first one read, in part, “Michele is such an amazing person & co-worker. Since I began working at Blessing, she has always been known as that knowledgeable, go to person for information. Not only is she intelligent, positive and empowering, but she has an amazing heart. I’ve witnessed her handle hostile patients with such professionalism and I cannot count the numerous times I have had to call Michele for her advice and expertise. Some of us affectionately call her “Mama Michele” because she takes care of us in so many wonderful ways.”

The second nomination referred to a situation in which an out-of-town nursing home resident arrived to be admitted to Blessing Hospital, but their physician had not completed the admitting process.

“Michele dropped everything and immediately called the HUB and started working on getting a room for him. She spoke with the physician and had him call the One Call line to start the admission process. Michele then went out and updated the patient and his family as to what was going on and how the process would work. She worked with other team members throughout the hospital to get this patient a clean room. Michele then registered the patient and took him upstairs so that we wouldn’t have to wait any longer. She went above and beyond to assist and put the patient first. This is very much who Michele is on a daily basis.”

Honey Bee honorees personify Blessing Hospital’s remarkable patient experience. The Honey Bee Award complements the DAISY Award. While the DAISY Award is for RNs, the Honey Bee Award is for support staff because, “you can’t have daisies without outstanding honey bees.”

Each Honey Bee Award honoree is recognized during a presentation. They receive a certificate, a tray of sticky buns, cookies and a jar of local honey.  The local honey signifies the role support staff plays in extraordinary patient care and customer service; they are the “sticky” honey that binds us together.

Honey Bee award nomination forms are located on all nursing units and other locations throughout Blessing Hospital.