Good Samaritan – Meredith Cherry
Congratulations to Meredith Cherry, a night shift RN on the CCU, for being honored with the Good Samaritan Award. Please see the nomination below to see why the Employee Recognition Committee selected Meredith as an award recipient.
In April 2023, CCU found itself with one extra patient. This extra patient was accompanying his owner while traveling and his owner ended up in CCU for a period of time. While Marcus didn’t seem to mind hanging out in CCU, his owner was extremely worried about what may happen to Marcus and how he was going to take care of Marcus during his admission and subsequent rehab stay.
After meeting the owner and Marcus, CCU staff members decided that Marcus had to be taken care of, yet we knew he could not stay in CCU. Meredith Cherry voluntarily took on Marcus as an extra in her own home during the patient’s MCBG and outpatient rehab stay.
For Meredith, keeping Marcus was not something taken lightly. She was determined to make sure she became Marcus’ advocate during his time of need. First, Meredith arranged for Marcus to be groomed. After getting him professionally groomed, Meredith supplied Marcus with his favorite snack/meal… green beans from a can! While tasty, this choice also took into consideration the lack of teeth remaining with Marcus.
Then, it was noted that something just wasn’t quite right with Marcus’ breathing. After doing a mini head to toe, Marcus made a trip to a local vet. After his workup, Marcus was diagnosed with some doggy heart failure and an airway issue. Meredith ensured that Marcus got his prescriptions filled and took his medications as prescribed.
Meredith also used her knowledge from CCU to switch Marcus over to heart healthy, “No Salt Added” Green Beans! Once Marcus’ owner had recovered and was ready to hit the road again, Meredith reunited Marcus and his owner so they could continue their traveling RV journeys! During all of this, Meredith brought Marcus for frequent visits, had follow up vet appointments, and truly took our mission “to care for people and improve the quality of life in the communities we serve” to the next level!
Her actions not only improved the quality of Marcus’ life, but also improved the quality of our patient’s life by allowing the patient time to recover without bearing the burden of losing his pet companion due to illness.
To nominate an employee, volunteer, board member or community member for their selfless acts of kindness and courage to comfort and aid others in need, please visit: medcenterhealth.org/good-samaritan/
