Two more things that don’t do well together – rolling out our
Mobile Program to more corporate offices on the same week ice is predicted on
Houston roadways.
If ever there were a good week to ask, “Why?” …
AND YET … as I knew they would, The Rose staff “rose” to the
occasion.
Imagine the scene: It’s Monday and two of our Mobile Team members Lilia and
Donna are taking care of Cyberonics employees in record time. I know this
because Karen, who is part of our Communications staff, was live tweeting the
day and she actually timed one patient as less than 15 min. (By the way,
I NEVER thought I would use the word “tweeting” in a sentence.) Meanwhile,
Cindy, the manager of our Mobile Team, is back at our Featherwood location
juggling calendars and sites who were already letting us know they were closing
for the next day’s anticipated ice storm. In between patients, Donna calls to
see if they can stay late to cover the women who were supposed to be on the
docket for Cyberonics second day of screenings. That’s when she finds out
Thursday just opened up. So now Lilia is notifying Kim at Cyberonics who is
reaching out to her staff to make Tuesday become Thursday!
Are you still with me?
Now we get to Wednesday and a very COLD morning. When I arrived
early(before 6 AM), I see three sets of the Mobile Team all bundled up and
overcoming hard to open doors and frozen lifts and loading equipment in less-than-ideal-conditions.
What I didn’t know is that they’ve already had to use jumper cables on
one of the vans to get it to start!
As Cindy told me later, “When push comes to shove, they truly are a team – they all
waited on each other and made sure each other was okay and knew the routes to
take since the HOV lanes were closed.”
Since United Airlines was on the books on Wednesday and it was
the first time we were going to the downtown offices, we really wanted to make
a good impression. Well … no worries! This “true team” netted praise throughout
the day via emails and on Facebook …
It was really a great day – people genuinely appreciated the
convenience of getting it done at work in just a few minutes. I never
dreamed it would be so popular! – Amy of United
Thank you for arranging for The Rose to come to the office and
do mammograms. Walking back and forth between Jefferson and Smith took longer
than checking in and completing the mammogram. Definite productivity saver
instead of taking time from work for an appointment elsewhere. – Susan in email
to organizers Amy and Debbie at United
One more "brag" on The Rose Houston and their mobile
unit....if you have the good fortune that your employer schedules this
event...please take advantage. I was in and out in 15 minutes and Donna the RN
was friendly and made you feel comfortable. There are no more excuses not to
take care of you! OK, off my soap box now! – Bobbye
Thursday the Cyberonics rescheduled day not only went well, it
also provided us with the opportunity to photograph and hear from their CEO Dan
Moore who will be speaking at our April luncheon this year. After seeing
firsthand his employees’ positive response to having the mobile onsite and
hearing about our dream of having a fleet of mobile units caring for women
across Texas, he offered several great suggestions to help us better communicate
with corporate leaders.
As Karen, who had interviewed Dan for an upcoming story,
recounted their discussion to me, I had to smile. I remember back to the day
when I first told her to use “fleet” when talking about our vans. Karen paused
and I knew she was questioning whether three vans could really be called a
“fleet.” But as soon as I shared the dream of reaching counties where they have
NO ACCESS to breast health care and breaking down barriers like those of
convenience that often keep women from making the preventive appointments we
know will save lives, she understood. And she’s used “fleet” ever since.
I love to dream. I love it even more when dreams start to seem like reality.
And this dream is shaping up. With people like Amy and Debbie at
United, Michelle (our board member who connected us to Cyberonics), as well as
Kim and Dan supporting us, I believe that our expanded fleet
will be needed sooner rather than later.
So thank you to our great mobile team -- Amy, Cindy, Adriana,
Ana, Donna, Kemper, Lilia, Maria, Pepper, Rosa, Tabitha, Tran, and Tressa.
You ALL warmed my heart this week. And that’s the best way to
get through a cold week in Houston!
Dorothy Gibbons is the Co-Founder and CEO of The Rose.
