As it is for everyone, Christmas is a special time of year at Iowa’s 118 community hospitals.  But the holiday season also underscores the mission that hospitals uphold every day, all day – a mission that incorporates not only health and healing on a community-wide scale, but providing hope and joy for individuals and families.  Those are traditional Christmas tidings, but they are at the center of the everyday work done by 70,000 Iowa hospital employees. 

Here are some snapshots of Christmas traditions and events at Iowa hospitals: 

Staff members at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines make a special effort to make Christmas as special as possible for the children and families who are inpatient this time of year.  Blank Child Life staff take Santa to visit each patient room – including the neonatal intensive care unit – so each patient can have their photo taken and receive a special gift from the jolly old elf (who, it’s rumored, may be one of the hospital’s pediatricians).  More gifts are distributed, again by Santa, on Christmas Eve.  All gifts given to the children are made possible by generous donations from the community.

At Wright Medical Center in Clarion, each department decorates its area with a designated charity for giving and CEO Steve Simonin and his guitar lead a group of employee carolers throughout the hallways, with employees joining in and harmonizing as departments are visited.  A huge success this year has been an employee holiday assistance fund, supported with bake sales, Clarion Chamber gift certificates, “wow” bucks (given to employees who go above and beyond) and cash donations, with the proceeds all going toward those employees requesting some help for the holidays.  To top it all off, one of the hospital’s physicians, his wife and grandchildren volunteered as “the Santa Claus family” and posed for photos with employees and their families.

Nursing home residents at Orange City Area Health System entertained guests and staff with a bell choir concert.  Traditional Christmas songs literally rang through the hospital’s hallways as residents donned their holiday colors and made a joyful noise.

The “Holiday of Lights” at Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson was a huge success.  People from the community joined staff in decorating trees and wreaths that created a festive atmosphere in the hospital lobby and in the long-term care center.  The decorations were auctioned off, raising nearly $3,000.  At the same time, the hospital’s auxiliary’s homemade candy sales raised another $1,600.  All the money raised will be used to purchase much-needed equipment at the hospital. 

A food drive by employees at Allen Health System in Waterloo brought in more than 3,000 food items, filling a truck and weighing in at more than 1,000 pounds, for the Cedar Valley Food Bank.

The Broadlawns Medical Center Guild in Des Moines invited all employees to attend the annual Holiday Dinner, which the guild has organized for many years.  This is held in appreciation of the employees’ dedication and service during the past year.  A traditional holiday dinner was served to all three employee shifts by hospital trustees and senior leaders, with CEO Jody Jenner and guild members being the hosts.

In addition to gathering food, clothing and gifts for local families in need and making sure each employee receives a personal gift, staff at Lucas County Health Center in Chariton design, build and drive a float in the town’s annual lighted Christmas parade.  This year’s entry, featuring caroling staff members and their children, won the parade’s People’s Choice Award.  The $50 prize was donated to supplement the hospital’s 2010 First Baby gift basket.

A new holiday tradition was started by staff at Mitchell County Regional Health Center in Osage.  Recognizing that struggling children and families were being well served by other local organizations, the hospital initiated its first Angel Tree for needy adults.  The hospital contacted nursing homes, care facilities and public health to get descriptions of people who had a need and those were shared as Christmas tree angels in the hospital lobby.  Within 24 hours, all of the angels were gone and two weeks later the gifts were at the hospital, where they were wrapped by department managers and then delivered.

Individual departments at Cass County Health System (CCHS) in Atlantic organize activities to brighten Christmas throughout the community.  Donations to the local food pantry, adopting families and children, donating items for a “Santa’s Closet” shopping room for staff who may have a hard time purchasing gifts, creating a beautiful hand-made quilt to raffle to adopt a family – there is no shortage of generosity and caring spirit!  After hearing that coats, warm clothing and blankets were in short supply at an Omaha mission, CCHS employees filled a pick-up and car full of donations in just 24 hours.  An annual health system-wide tradition is the Holiday Meal, served to people in the community who are unable to provide their own special dinner.  Staff donate time by serving meals; talent by bringing homemade baked goods for “to-go” packages; and treasures by giving financially to offset the cost of the meal and gifts for each family.  This will be the 12^th year for this very special event, which provides a delicious holiday meal for about 130 people every year. 

Each year, staff at Baum Harmon Mercy Hospital and Clinics in Primghar, Paullina, Sutherland and Hartley participate in the Adopt a Family Program.  The hospital and clinics adopted seven families this year.  Each family receives a grocery gift card paid for by monies donated from staff for “blue jean Fridays.”  The staff bought gifts for the children including a bicycle, games and clothes.  Everyone brings extra groceries to go with the grocery gift cards and some purchased additional gift cards to be given to the families.  In addition to the formal Adopt a Family program, some staff made gift baskets for needy families we serve in our clinics.  This was done in-lieu of staff exchanging gifts amongst themselves.

Kossuth Regional Health Center in Algona has a tradition of gathering staff to carol over their lunch hour to patients and other staff members.  Staff usually do this one of the last days of the work week before Christmas and many employees dress the part with Santa hats, reindeer ears and so on.

At Great River Medical Center in West Burlington, chaplains from the Spiritual Care Department deliver poinsettias to all inpatients on Christmas Eve. The plants are purchased by Great River Friends, which is a combination of former auxiliary members and the hospital’s Volunteer Services Department.

Partnering with the Visiting Nurses Association, employees at The Finley Hospital in Dubuque provided a full holiday dinner and gifts for 34 local families, including more than 50 children.  The VNA and Finley Hospital employees donated hundreds of hours and collected nearly $5,000 to support a Community Outreach Holiday Meal. This hospital-wide effort at Finley raised funds for gift cards for the families by holding wreath and mini-tree sales, paying to wear jeans on a given Friday, bake sales, pass-the-hat collections and payroll deduction.

Continuing to spread the pride and joy that goes with a new community hospital, Jefferson County Health Center in Fairfield will have an afternoon of music (provided by a local high school musician who has been a member of the All-State Orchestra for two years) and refreshments for all hospital visitors.

Music also fills the air at Buena Vista Regional Medical Center in Storm Lake when members of the local symphony (including one of the hospital’s physicians) put on a lunch-time Christmas concert.  This is a hospital tradition that draws a big crowd every year.

Young singers regale staff and visitors at Waverly Health Center.  A choir from nearby Southeast Elementary stops by the hospital each year to share carols and that special Christmas spirit that comes from young voices and hearts.

Here at IHA, staff donated gifts and cash to make Christmas happen for 16 individuals (including 11 children) in three needy families.  The families were identified for IHA by counselors at Des Moines’ George Washington Carver Elementary, a neighborhood school that IHA has supported for several years with the Christmas gift project, school supply drives and during the United Way Day of Caring.