Reid Hospital Ambassadors of the Month
August Ambassador heals and helps
Elevated by the acclaim of her colleagues, August’s Ambassador of the Month routinely extends caring beyond Emergency Department walls, spreads healing to patients’ families and leads from the front of the medical mission at Reid Hospital & Health Care Services.
Phyllis Chapman, RN, a team member since September 2001, has been a natural ambassador from the first, according to a nominator from the Security Department.
“I don’t think she knows a stranger,” he wrote. “Her calm demeanor, very evident nursing skills and friendly, outgoing personality put outsiders at ease.”
A nurse and friend writes that she can recall many times when Chapman reached into her own heart and pocket so the children of a patient or a patient’s family could have something to eat.
“On one occasion, an expectant father was here with his pregnant wife. She was being transferred to a high-risk perinatal hospital for pre-term labor,” runs an additional recollection. “He didn’t have enough gas in his car to get there and no money. Phyllis gave him gas money so he could be with his wife.”
On several occasions, Chapman has drawn particular praise from her colleagues for her aid to shaken travelers, marooned in the Emergency Department by I-70 mishaps.
“One wreck involved five people, none from this area,” wrote a nominator. “Phyllis helped them find lodging for the night, helped them book a flight on line and arranged for a van to take them to the Dayton airport in the morning.”
In a similar situation, her help included driving the stranded travelers to their damaged vehicle to retrieve luggage and personal belongings.
Chapman, originally of Lexington, Ky., graduated from high school in Longmont, Colo., in 1977 and completed a BSN at Indiana University in 1994.
She and her husband, Joe, a Dana retiree, have two children and four grandchildren and are active in their church. They live in the Cambridge City area.
