In South Louisiana, we know football. Consequently, we know the value of teamwork.
After all, football is the epitome of a team sport. No matter how talented any individual player is, they can’t win games all by themselves. (No, not even Drew Brees.) They need a smart, highly functioning team around them if they want any real chance of success.
In that regard, it’s a lot like healthcare – which brings us to today’s installment in 70 for 70, our ongoing history series celebrating St. Tammany Health System’s 70th anniversary.
Installment No. 65: The dream team
Today’s artifact: A half-dozen footballs emblazoned with the STHS embracing-hearts logo and the words “Key Play,” awarded monthly to leaders of various health system departments in recognition of recent team wins.
Why they are significant: Whether on the football field, in the healthcare arena or somewhere else entirely, good teamwork deserves to be recognized – and rewarded.
That’s why St. Tammany Health System leadership in early 2024 came up with the “Key Play” program, to shine a light on examples of teamwork at its best.
It all centers on those coveted, custom-made “Key Play” footballs, which are awarded at the health system’s quarterly leadership development meetings to departments that embody STHS’s teamwork ethos.
In addition to bragging rights, those teams get the honor of showing off the ball until it is time to pass it on to another team.
Among the first “Key Play” winners, for example, was one of the health system’s newest departments, its Palliative Medicine team, which was founded only in 2016 but which has grown in that short time to become a key pillar of the health system’s Home Health Department – despite the inherent challenge of explaining to people exactly what Palliative Care is.
(In a nutshell, it is a medical discipline dedicated to helping patients with life-limiting conditions to reach their goals and maximize their quality of life while being treated for their illness. The basic message: With the help of Palliative Medicine providers, such “life-limiting” conditions don’t have to be life limiting.)
At a “signing day” celebration following the announcement of their big win, the Palliative Medicine team signed the STHS Key Play football, as all departments do before handing it off to the next team – in this case to St. Tammany Health Foundation.
In addition to Palliative Medicine, other STHS teams to receive the honor in 2024 include those from Inpatient Physical Therapy (Bert Lindsey), the St. Tammany Parish Pharmacy at Braswell’s (Kelly Null), the STHS Virtual Nurse program (Mathilde Lyon and Mariah Wallace), Food and Nutrition Services (Joanna Wilbanks), Workforce Strategy (Bronwyn Doyle), an ad hoc Workday implementation team (Karen Raiford, Cherie Faucheaux and Lisa McAdams), Care Coordination (Paula Day), Quality Management (Julie Nevers and Jennifer Gray), and Emergency Services/Corporate Compliance/Women and Children’s Services (Bradley Leonhard, Teresa Krutzfeldt, Les Hall, Katie Leonhard, Cindy Ingram and Suzanne Fraiche).
With a dream team like that, it’s hard not to expect great things.
“It’s an honor to have won it, of course, but it’s also just a fun way to foster a culture of teamwork,” Palliative Medicine RN Supervisor Emily Pupo said on her team’s signing day. “Go, team!”
Do you have a St. Tammany Parish Hospital story or item to share? We’d love to hear about it! Email us at CommDept@stph.org.
Next week – Installment No. 66: Where y'at?
Last week – Installment No. 64: The secret ingredient