Todd Grodin Shares His Story

4 am the morning of March 2, I woke to another fluttering in my chest, and I screen recorded my continuous failed attempts to ascertain my pulse/Ox with my Samsung as I often do after workouts. Usually, I'm at 137-151bpm and have a normal 02 in the mid-'90s.,

Except that Tuesday a.m., after 3:34 mins, I still couldn't get a read. 

I drove to your ER at ORMC and, upon intake, was informed that his reading was 180 bpm for my pulse. 

One utterance into his chest mic and he whisked me into Red Pod Bed #34A. There, your staff was alert, instantly assumed their trauma positions around my gurney, and I was tagged with EKG leads and stuck with IV in record time. 

Dr. Sara (no H) Hardin was on call, and she was efficient, courteous and even at the end of her long shift, she remained in good spirits with her sense of humor intact. She had a no-nonsense approach that was very soothing. She made frequent eye contact, reassured me of the treatment plan she already formulated as the intent was to get me to invert. Stride-for-stride with Dr. Hardin was Simme Reynolds, RN. She advised me of my progress and kept checking in on me in the early hours of my visit. 

Then shift change occurred. The majority of my seventeen hours stay in the trauma section was made more palatable by my primary care provider Liza P., RN. She assumed control at 7 a.m., and I witnessed her non-stop movements in and out of my room for her shift. Liza is a consummate professional who puts her patients first. She would tackle the intake of the loud and seemingly feral woman who would not stop wailing incoherently, and then in the next step, she would pivot and check on me and my vitals before returning to the fray. 

Like Dr. Hardin and Nurse Reynolds, Liza P. continued the highest level of care while I sought to drop my pulse and accommodate the two bags of Heparin hung throughout my stay. 

Brianna, the tech, was terrific because I was not unnecessarily stuck with needles. She drew blood so quickly it made it less painful than other times I had blood drawn. Throughout the day, she continued to take two vials each time to monitor my protein levels. This task she did with aplomb even though she was thoroughly spent after the previous day where, for the double patient beds among the thirty-six rooms, they were five techs short. She didn't let it get her down. She pushed through as the fantastic professional she is. 

Dr. Meigh entered, informing me I didn't want to see an ER doc in the ER. I said, "I don't?" To wit, he replied, "on paper, you're having a heart attack." 

After I had him connect with Dr. Cuomo and the stress test I performed for her, he recanted and said, "nope, you're not having a heart attack. Your scan matches perfectly with your prior stress test." 

Dr. Meigh has a terrific bedside manner. He has an engaging sense of humor, and over the years, he had even polished his Espanol, making him that much more effective as an Emergency Health Care Physician as he can avail his talents more effectively with a growing population of Spanish-speaking patients. 

Liza P. returned, and she continued to establish the nurse-patient relationship as the professional she is. Liza P. engaged, she showed empathy, concern, and because she stays fit working out with her Peloton, she had the stamina to withstand the grueling twelve-hour shift and not look less for the wear. Liza cares about her patients, her team, and anyone lucky enough to be caught in the radius of her radiation. Her self-respect is a contagion. Liza spreads that willingly as she positively affected the people around her, and that goes double for her patients in particular. 

Her soul-sister Cynthia acted like a tag-team that even though I wasn't exactly Cynthia's charge, she too looked after me because I was safe under Liza's watchful wing. That seamless teamwork makes your ER run like a finely-tuned machine. Everyone knows their roles and performs them saliently. 

There are many businesses that would kill for such a well-knit group of professionals who work towards their collective goal of getting their patients free from the unit's supervision as healthily and safely as possible. 

I had to write to let you know how satisfied I was to have sought help from your ER that morning. 

One tech was so lovely that she was called up to help with the day's staffing shortage, and she came in from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Not only did she come in on her day off, with no ride to get to work, but her boss drove by and picked her up at her house. 

In the afternoon, after I had successfully inverted my heartrate, one nurse Christine M looked at me, and  even as I was wearing my mask, she recognized me and said, "you look like SOMEBODY!" 

I replied, "my mom thinks I'm a "somebody!" 

Nurse Christine M. remarked, "no, do you live in ..... do you work in Washingtonville? Are you a teacher? Do you teach at Little Britain Elementary?" 

What can I say? Your nurses, Christine included, are "fire." They're observant, engaging, pleasant, and professional to the point that the needle is pinned in the #TotalProfessional zone. 

That's just another reason why I am compelled to type to you instead of just filling out the bubbles on my survey.

You have a fantastic team of people. I certainly hope that you show them my thankful praises at the very least, and if it is not impossible, I will expect that you attach a copy of this letter for their personnel folders. 

Lastly, Nurse Olivia took over my discharge at night, and LaToya was saintly by going so far as to make my appointment already for the next day at my electro cardiologist's office with Dr. Lessner. 

You want your patients to feel like they are the most important to your business of patching people back together and helping them rehabilitate past their traumas. I highly recommend that you let your quality people know that I, for one, thoroughly appreciate them and their abilities tied with terrific personalities. 

Thank you for your team and your sagacity in selecting them and promoting such quality people who care. 

Sincerely,
Todd Grodin