Making Smiles with Shirts

Many times, there is a seriousness attributed with not only health care, but also with what some of our amazing employees do at our care centers.  We often associate our great caregivers with their hard work and dedication. While these are very valuable traits, it’s important to also have some fun and bring some joy to the care centers.

Beverly is a physical therapist assistant at Parkview Care Center in Fremont, OH, and she brings a lot of happiness and excitement to the care center. It began one day when the care center was having a nurse craft show. Beverly and her daughter had always enjoyed making tie-dye shirts for fun at home, so they decided to share their hobby with everyone at Parkview.

They made several shirts and were shocked that they sold all of them right away. Residents swarmed the stand for more shirts. And even two years after the event took place, residents specifically requested that these popular shirts be made again. Residents now even request certain patterns and colors. Beverly sells the shirts for $5, which is her cost to make them. Beverly is just volunteering her time and does this for no other reason than to see people smile and give them something to look forward to.

Over the last 10 years that Beverly has worked at Parkview, she has built relationships that are much like family. She’s very close with all of her patients and residents, and she would go out of her way to do anything for them. When asked what she likes the most about working at Parkview, she replied, “I love the family feel of our care center. I love getting the patients moving around again, to be able to socialize more, and smiling again. I enjoy trying to take away some of their pain with physical therapy.”

Aside from the smiles that Beverly puts on her patients’ faces, there is something else she gives them that means even more…respect. Although Beverly agreed that all of our Core Values are important, she feels respect is crucial. She said, “All of them are a very important part of my job. I have a lot of compassion, but also respect for my patients. Respecting them is the most important thing because they won’t cooperate with me if I don’t listen to them, or try to understand what they’re dealing with.”

Beverly finds joy in helping her patients get better and it’s her biggest motivation for coming to work each day. We asked her what keeps her in this role and at this care center, and she said “to see everybody, talk with them, and be a part of their day. Many patients say they’ll do whatever I ask them to, just because it’s me who is asking.”

There are so many wonderful things that Beverly brings to Parkview. Whether she is helping a patient get better with exercises, or putting a smile on someone’s face with a t-shirt, she is always giving it her all. We can’t thank her enough for the lives she touches each day and hope that Beverly will continue working at Consulate Health Care for many years.