Quilters offer artful thanks to STHS for work during pandemic

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Friday, November 4, 2022

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Quilters offer artful thanks to STHS for work during pandemic

Mike Scott, mscott@stph.org

St. Tammany Health System Chief Operating Officer Sharon Toups, far right, and Chief Nursing Officer Kerry Milton, second from right, admire the handiwork on display in a hand-crafted quilt presented to the health system by Vizient in recognition of the dedication and sacrifice of the organization's frontline caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Tory Mansfield/STHS)

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the frontline caregivers at St. Tammany Health System and other healthcare organizations have had their communities covered. Now, Vizient is teaming with QUILTmania magazine and the Georgia-based Chatahoochee Evening Stars Quilt Guild to return the favor in their own special way. 

On Tuesday (Nov. 1, 2022), Vizient Southern States President and CEO Bill Senneff paid a visit to St. Tammany Health System to present the organization with a unique, handmade expression of gratitude: an approximately 5-foot-square quilt handcrafted by an international team of quilters and embedded with healthcare imagery. 

“QUILTmania wanted to do something to recognize caregiving during the pandemic,” Senneff said. “So they came to us with the idea of quilting.” 

In all, 80 quilt designers answered the call, with another 1,000 quilters from around the world joining in to help stitch 10-inch blocks that would be assembled to form 18 quilts. In September, the final products were displayed as part of an exhibition at City Hall in Alpharetta, Georgia, before being distributed to specially chosen healthcare organizations. 

The quilt presented to St. Tammany Health System, appropriately, incorporated deep red tones – matching the health system’s signature color – and included quilted blocks made by quilters in California, Texas, Illinois and Mexico. 

The most dominant motif to appear is the iconic red cross symbol, which has become an emblem for medicine. Also present is a stethoscope and nursing hat, a stylized vase of flowers and the word “Love.” 

In many cases, the quilters who worked on the individual blocks signed their names, all of which are included in a panel stitched to the quilt’s reverse explaining the sentiments behind the project, dubbed “Comforting Stitches: Quilters’ Response to the Pandemic.” 

Their only requests, Senneff said, was that the quilt be displayed in a place where members of the caregiving team at St. Tammany Health System can see it, as a reminder that their dedication during the pandemic has been recognized, and also that members of the public will be able to view it to remind them of those sacrifices. 

According to Nicole Suhre, executive director of St. Tammany Hospital Foundation, which operates the health system’s Healing Arts Initiative, it has yet to be determined where the quilt will hang. 

But, she said, “I know our Healing Arts team will find an appropriate place – and it will be a place of honor.”

The quilt presented to STHS measures approximate 5 feet square and includes 25 individually stitched blocks. It is part of a project called ‘Comforting Stitches: Quilters’ Response to the Pandemic.’  (Photo by Tory Mansfield/STHS)

In addition to incorporating St. Tammany Health System’s signature deep-red color, the quilt includes a variety of healthcare imagery (Photo by Tory Mansfield/STHS)

Representatives of Vizient Southern States present St. Tammany Health System leadership with a quilt created as a gesture of gratitude for the dedication and sacrifice of frontline caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Tory Mansfield/STHS)

Many of the quilters who worked on the STHS quilt ‘signed’ their name to their work. Quilters from California, Texas, Illinois and Mexico worked on the quilt. (Photo by Tory Mansfield/STHS)

A panel stitched to the quilt’s reverse contains the names of those quilters who helped create it, in addition to explaining the sentiments behind the project, dubbed 'Comforting Stitches: Quilters’ Response to the Pandemic.' (Photo by Tory Mansfield/STHS)

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