Community Corner
Christmas Surprise Pizza Party At Paoli Hospital Emergency Room
The staffers working the holiday expressed gratitude to Berwyn Pizza for making the holiday special with the unexpected treat.
BERWYN, PA —The emergency room at Paoli Hospital was jammed on Christmas 2022 with patients pouring in post pandemic with upper respiratory diseases, some related to coronavirus, the flu and other ailments.
The 30-bed emergency room typically has 60 to 80 patients on any given day. On Christmas, there were at least 70 patients in the 30-bed emergency room.
More than two dozen staffers were on duty feverishly working to provide care.
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At 4:30 p.m, Pete Bottos, and his wife, Dimitra, arrived with 25 freshly baked pizzas from Berwyn Pizza. The act of kindness made the day extra special for the hard-working staffers.
“What a selfless act,” Dr. Stuart Brilliant, chief of emergency medicine at Paoli Hospital, said Wednesday. “The owner of Berwyn Pizza dropped off 25 pizzas. The owner knew people were working hard and wanted to show appreciation by feeding the staff who couldn’t be with their families.
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“This is the season where everyone is getting ill. Every bed is filled and people are in the waiting room. But this past weekend made me proud to be part of the Malvern-Paoli-Berwyn community.”
The pizzas had a variety of toppings, including pepperoni, pineapple, mushrooms and fresh vegetables.
Pete Bottos, owner of Berwyn Pizza, said his family baked the pizzas after opening their presents.
His wife, Dimitra, and children, Nicolette, 13, and Christos, 11, and relatives visiting from Greece worked together baking the pizzas.
Bottos said he and his wife are teaching their children about giving back to the community.
“We want to teach them that the holiday is not all about getting gifts,” he said, during a short break before the lunch crowd arrived. “It’s about sharing with others. They know it's for a good cause.”
“It feels good to know you did something to help others,” Christos said. “They (the hospital staff) were working all day.”
Dimitra Bottos said the hospital staff were so happy when the pizzas arrived.
“They said, who are you guys and what are you bringing,” she said, noting the staff had been snacking on cookies before the pizza arrived.
Brilliant could thank the Bottos family enough.
“This reaffirms my faith in humanity,” Brilliant said.
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