Well Wishes Campaign Receives 8,000 Messages

Occupational therapists Tupper Bigelow and Zack Thompson are part of the “proning” team at Henry Ford Allegiance Health. Photo courtesy HFAH.

(April 17, 2020 7:38 AM) The Well Wishes campaign invites anyone to send notes to patients recovering without loved ones due to visitor restrictions during COVID-19. Since the campaign’s launch a month ago, more than 5,500 well wishes and messages have been delivered to patients.

Since its start, the campaign was expanded to include hospital workers and has received more than 2,500 well wishes and messages for healthcare heroes, from housekeeping to nurses and doctors, and everyone working on the front lines.

Among the staff being recognized, Occupational therapists Tupper Bigelow and Zack Thompson are part of the “proning” team at Henry Ford Allegiance Health. Lying in a prone position (stretched out on the stomach), has been shown to increase the flow of oxygen to the lungs. The teams of seven turn COVID-19 patients onto their stomachs to help them breathe better. The couple recently volunteered to take 12-hour, overnight shifts. They are staying in a camper to make themselves readily available.

“I am so proud of Tupper and Zack and our other 18 proning team members for their tireless dedication,” said Supervisor Scarlet Shaffer, who leads the effort with clinical nurse specialist Mariah Foster. “Our hope is that proning will mean less time on a ventilator and a shorter ICU stay for these patients.”

Messages of support and appreciation include many “get well” drawings from children to patients and heartfelt messages from adults that convey support and appreciation for the healthcare heroes. One message reflects the overall sense of community appreciation, “Thank you for all you do!!! You are a true hero! Keep on fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves!”

Messages of well wishes are being submitted online at www.henryford.com/wellwishes and are displayed internally on television monitors in patient rooms and also as screensavers on employees’ work station computers, throughout the system. A short how-to-video shows well-wishers how simple it is to submit messages.

The campaign has been well-received and has provided a connection for the community to remind patients and hospital workers that they are in everyone’s thoughts. Submitted messages are screened by the Henry Ford Care Experience team to ensure patient privacy before they are posted – any information identifying patients is not shared.