Views from the Shore
By Brian Cahill
In communities across the globe, tree lighting ceremonies mark the official start of the holiday season, uniting friends and neighbors together in the spirit of the season. The same happens at Shore Medical Center with its annual Auxiliary’s Tree of Lights ceremony, but with an extra special touch.
Each year in advance of the ceremony, the Auxiliary invites community members to make a donation in honor or memory of a loved one in support of the medical center. The names of those individuals are inscribed in the Tree of Lights Book, with each light on the illuminated tree representing those who have been honored. The listing of inscribed names is posted on the Auxiliary page of Shore Medical Center’s website. This year’s Tree of Lights campaign raised more than $4,000 for the hospital.
This year, the Auxiliary honored the environmental services team at Shore for their hard work and dedication to keeping the hospital clean and safe, especially throughout the pandemic.
“Each day, our EVS team sets out to keep our hospital safe and clean for every person who walks in our door. In these unprecedented times, they work even harder to “save lives” by making sure our hospital is a safe place to heal and work,” said Brenda Martello, Chairperson of the Auxiliary. “These behind-the-scene unsung heroes have been a key defense in the fight against the pandemic. We honor and thank this special team who have maintained a commitment of helping save lives each and every day.”
After her presentation, she welcomed members of Shore’s environmental services team to help light the tree.
It was so great to see the EVS team receive this much-deserved recognition. This group of healthcare heroes is comprised of hard working dedicated people who perform essential duties at the hospital each and every day. They are there in the morning to clean each room thoroughly, and they are there in the afternoon at discharge to make sure rooms are emptied, cleaned, and prepared for the next patient. They are the friendly faces who provide calm and comfort to our patients while they are resting and healing.
Throughout the pandemic, the Shore EVS team continued to answer the call, day in day out, to make certain that the hospital was clean for patients and clinical staff.
“In the beginning there was a lot of fear, and understandably so, but our team knew that our patients and our staff were depending on them, and they were always ready to do their part,” said Joe Hutcherson, Manager of Shore’s EVS team. “We could not be more proud of how our team responded during a very scary time, and continues to do a great job each and every day.
“They are a special group, truly dedicated to Shore and to our community,” continued Hutcherson. “At a time when nearly every other industry in the country is struggling to fill jobs, we are fortunate to have such a special group, one that is dedicated to Shore and our community.
Brian Cahill is the Director of Marketing for Shore Medical Center. He is also on the Board of the Somers Point Business Association, an Adjunct Professor in the School of Business at Stockton University, and is a founding member of Somers Point-Community First, a local volunteer organization
