Williamson Medical Center (WMC) kicks off Hospital Week, May 9 – 13, with the launch of a Kindness Matters campaign encouraging a culture of kindness in the hospital and throughout the community. In addition to a week-long celebration of the hospital’s healthcare team, the Kindness Matters campaign is designed to promote mutual respect among healthcare providers, patients and staff, ensuring WMC remains a comfortable space for health and healing.

“The past two years have been extremely challenging for our providers,” said Williamson Medical Center’s CEO Phil Mazzuca. “The Kindness Matters campaign builds on existing efforts to restore, encourage and support our team members emotionally, physically and professionally.”

From creating a COVID-19 reflection wall and visits from therapy dogs to opening a new meditation space, the WMC team has been focused on finding new ways to uplift staff. The Kindness Matters campaign was also born from this objective as another way to support not only staff but also the patients, their families and the community at large by reinforcing the importance of treating one another with courtesy and consideration.

“Kindness Matters means reminding everyone who comes through the doors that mutual respect, compassion and teamwork are all critically important to the healthcare journey,” said Mazzuca. “At the beginning of the pandemic, healthcare workers were viewed as heroes. Over time, the pandemic created a level of exhaustion, anxiety, frustration and sometimes even aggression that has at times been directed toward those same healthcare providers. Our goal with the campaign is to create an environment where it’s possible for our staff to continually do their best work and inspire our friends and neighbors to join us in ensuring that kindness is at the heart of our community.”

In addition to joining the Kindness Matters movement, local residents can acknowledge and celebrate hospital staff members through the WMC Foundation’s Heroes of Hope program. The program gives patients and their family members the opportunity to recognize and thank staff members who made a difference during their stay at WMC.

“We often receive calls and emails from people who want to be able to say thank you to members of the Williamson Medical Center team who went above and beyond during their stay or the stay of a loved one,” said Leigh Williams, Director of Development for the Foundation. “This could be anyone from our greeters in the front lobby to a nurse to a member of our environmental services team. We created Heroes of Hope to make the process of getting a thank you note or another form of recognition to these dedicated staff members simple.”

“Our dedicated team members work hard every day to serve our patients and provide comfort to their families,” added Williams. “As the COVID-19 pandemic has stretched healthcare providers to their limits, it’s especially appreciated when others recognized them for their commitment and service.”

ABOUT WILLIAMSON MEDICAL CENTER | Williamson Medical Center offers comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services, 24-hour emergency care, preventive health screenings and wellness activities. Services offered by Williamson Medical Center are developed to provide the most cost-effective, convenient and accessible healthcare possible. More than 825 providers represent over 60 medical specialties and sub-specialties. The caliber of physicians and care at Williamson Medical Center continues to advance the way healthcare is delivered to our region with compassion and convenience unique to WMC. Our campus also houses Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital Vanderbilt at Williamson Medical Center, which provides pediatric emergent and inpatient care, and Bone and Joint Institute of Tennessee – the region’s premiere destination for orthopaedic excellence. In addition, WMC’s Williamson Medical Group includes more than 40 providers offering everything from primary care to surgery to pulmonary and sleep medicine..

ABOUT WILLIAMSON MEDICAL CENTER FOUNDATION | The Williamson Medical Center Foundation, Inc., serves as the charitable and development arm that supports Williamson Medical Center, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital Vanderbilt at Williamson Medical Center and Bone and Joint Institute of Tennessee in providing best-in-class healthcare services to the families of our community. The Foundation oversees capital projects and health outreach programs, seeking charitable gifts of all types to provide ways to continuously improve the quality of patient care.