HCA Florida Highlands Hospital

Our annual We Show Up for Our Communities school supply drive is almost over. Make it a great start to the school year for local families in need by donating school supplies, cleaning items, and backpacks. Examples can be found on local school lists. We have a donation bin in our main entrance lobby, located at 3600 S Highlands Ave., Sebring, FL 33870. The drive ends this coming Monday, July 22. Donations benefit Healthy Families Highlands. #WeShowUp

HCA Florida Highlands Hospital was excited to host members from Ridge Area Arc’s Project SEARCH summer camp today! Ridge Area Arc is a a non-profit organization that works with individuals with developmental and other disabilities on social skills, daily living activities, and training for jobs and home living, and Project SEARCH helps them prepare for employment. Our colleagues in sterile processing, dietary, environmental services, supply chain, and patient care had a blast creating ‘stations’ that showed campers some of the common tasks we do around the hospital. We followed up with a tour, where they got to meet the Aeromed 2 Flight Team from Tampa General Hospital and watch them take off! It was also tropical luau day in the cafeteria, so we love that they brought their leis! We truly enjoyed their visit and always encourage youth to explore careers in healthcare.

#DYK? Pickleball is the nation's fastest-growing sport. All that exercise and fun also brings the chance of getting hurt on the court. Here's how to prevent and treat the most common pickleball injuries: https://bit.ly/3VVJRO1 #ImproveMoreLives #Pickleball

We are making progress with collecting items for our annual school supply drive! Help us make this school year a success for families in need by donating school supplies and cleaning items that can be found on local school lists. We have a donation bin in our main entrance lobby, located at 3600 S Highlands Ave., Sebring, FL 33870. The drive ends July 22. Donations benefit Healthy Families Highlands.#WeShowUp

We love it when our past patients come back to visit! Peggy (pictured in a red top) recently came to Highlands for lab work but ended up surprising some of her past care team members, including Fazia and Sheila in case management and Carolyn in orthopedics. Peggy hasn’t been a patient in two and a half years, thanks to the guidance she received from Dr. Patel, a pulmonologist affiliated with Highlands. Prior to that, Peggy had been in and out of the hospital for many years dealing with numerous respiratory complications. She was on oxygen and was wheelchair bound. Since her last stay, Peggy lost 120 pounds in a fifteen-month span! “These people truly helped me in my journey. They have been the best, and no one has treated me better,” said Peggy. Carolyn was amazed at Peggy’s transformation, and described it as ‘inspiring.’ She credits Peggy’s partner, Patricia, for standing by her and for being a huge support from the bedside. We are thankful to have such amazing physicians and colleagues that #ImproveMoreLives every day.

At HCA Florida Highlands Hospital, we strive to give our patients #HealthierTomorrows. One of our patients, Ken, happened to be staying at the hospital on his birthday, so our medical/surgical team celebrated him by singing ‘Happy Birthday’ with cake and ice cream at shift change so both day and night staff could attend! Ken waited to have the treats until his wife, Nancy, got there, but stated that it made his day. “A lot of people don’t like coming to the hospital, and are quick to say what is wrong, but to me, here’s something that is right! These nurses do what they love and it shows," said Ken.

We're excited to announce our first quarter ROSE Award winner, Jessica, a multi-modality mammography technologist on our imaging services team here at Highlands! The ROSE Award, which is short for ‘Recognition of Service Excellence,’ is given to a non-nursing team member for exemplifying extraordinary service in the performance of their job. Jessica was nominated by numerous patients for making them feel comfortable and calm. She was described as kind, polite, and answered questions with detailed explanations. Please join us in congratulating Jessica on receiving this distinguished award. Nominate someone for the ROSE Award: https://bit.ly/4bh1Mo3

HCA Florida Highlands Hospital is holding an annual School Supply Drive from Monday, June 24 to Monday, July 22. A donation bin is located in the main entrance lobby of our hospital, located at 3600 S. Highlands Ave., Sebring, FL 33870. The donations will benefit Healthy Families Highlands, which is a local program that equips caregivers with the resources needed for them and their children to succeed at home, in school, and in life. Community members are encouraged to donate school supply items. Examples are pencils, erasers, pens, notebook paper, glue, crayons, colored pencils, spiral and composition notebooks, pencil sharpeners, binders, pencil cases, 3-prong folders, dry erase markers, and backpacks. Additional school supply and cleaning item recommendations can be found on local school lists. Thank you in advance for your kindness and generosity to help families as they embark on a new school year this fall.

Congratulations to our first quarter DAISY Award winner, Casey, who is a nurse in our medical/surgical unit! The DAISY Foundation launched the DAISY Award to honor and recognize the super-human work nurses do for patients and families every day. Casey was nominated by a patient for her compassionate care. She eased their fears, kept them informed, and made them feel as if they weren’t in a hospital. The patient described her as having a huge smile and said that “it was like talking to your best friend. Because of her, I knew I would be okay.” Please join us in congratulating Casey on receiving this special award. Nominate a nurse for the DAISY Award: https://bit.ly/4eJ6gH8

We’re so thankful for our colleagues who volunteered nearly 3,000 hours during this year’s We Show Up for Our Communities initiative! The annual event began in 2022 to unite HCA Florida Healthcare colleagues across the state and invest in the neighborhoods served by each of our 48 hospitals. Learn more about how our colleagues stepped forward to meet their communities’ needs by volunteering through 80 nonprofit and partner organizations: https://bit.ly/4eGcuHM #WeShowUpWeek2024 #HCAFloridaHealthcare #HCACares