December BEE Award: Heather Edwards

In December 2020, Campbell County Health awarded Heather Edwards, LAc, MAOM, with a BEE Award. Heather is a Patient Experience Coordinator at CCH.

The BEE (Be Excellent Every Day) Award was established to recognize staff members who go beyond extraordinary expectations, but who are not nurses.

Heather was nominated by her fellow colleagues in Patient Experience, Legend Tanya Allee and Chrissy Moore.

“Heather helps someone every day. Although, it is her role as Patient Experience Coordinator in the Patient Experience Department for Campbell County Memorial Hospital and the Campbell County Medical Group Clinics, she always goes above and beyond to meet the needs of those she serves,” it says in the nomination form.

Patient Experience is the department that receives concerns, complaints, and grievances from patients about their care at the hospital or in one of the clinics. Heather’s role is to then take that information and investigate the issue, provide timely feedback and answers to the patients/families concerns.

Heather is often contacted by staff to help deal with an irate patient in the moment or to call them back. She gets screamed at, cussed out, spoken down to but, she always is professional and courteous with every person in every interaction. She helps get the patient information that may have been lost in translation or to help explain a CCMH or CCMG process. Heather asks a million questions for clarification to assure that she is hearing the patient correctly and understands their concern and needs. She also asks a million questions to staff about processes so she can understand how it works. This enables her to better follow-up and explain things to the patient. This also allows her to provide feedback on trending concerns and process issues that arise.

Also written in her nomination form is:

“Heather is always all-in for every patient! She truly is the epitome of compassion and a genuinely empathetic listener. She sees things from a patient’s perspective and an employees’ perspective and tries to combine the two to make communication and processes easier and more effective for all involved. Patients will often call her for any questions, even if they don't pertain to a complaint or grievance or quality concern because they know she will answer her phone and return their calls. She gives details for all processes and distinct time lines so the patients have no question that they are in good hands and that follow-up will happen. Heather does not do lip-service, she backs up her words with actions in everything she does. She is a fine example of integrity and plays an enormous role in managing up Campbell County Health under a variance of circumstances.”

Heather is truly an incredible asset to Campbell County Health and the patients and families that we serve.

About the BEE and DAISY Awards

The BEE and the DAISY Awards were established to honor the extraordinary care the incredible staff at CCH offer.

Patients, families and colleagues can nominate nurses for a DAISY Award and support staff for a BEE award. These recognitions highlight staff who go beyond the expectations, consistently demonstrating kind and genuine care through respectful and honest communication and treatment. These staff provided hope and a feeling of peace and safety to patients and their families during vulnerable and anxious times.

The BEE Award was established in 2020 by the nurses at Campbell County Health to compliment the DAISY Award. Those eligible for the BEE Award include all hospital employees outside of nursing. This special honor is celebrated once a quarter. Nominate a CCH nurse for the DAISY Award at www.cchwyo.org/DAISY. Nominate a staff member for the BEE Award at www.cchwyo.org/BEE.