30 FOCUS - MARCH 2019 In-Patient Team Back row, L to R: Lindsay Musclow, Sarah Moreland, Dr. Steve Russell, Dr. Antonietta Chiellu, Natalie Campbell-Savage. Front row, L to R: Bailey Evans, Bailee Alcock, Sunita Chase, Lisa Highstead, Kalea Renaud. In front: Joni Wilson. Grateful patients have often bought flowers or chocolates as a little treat for their health care providers at Port Perry Hospital. But there’s a new way to show your appreciation, and it’s called the Circle of Gratitude. Here’s how it works: If you wish to acknowledge a doctor, a nurse, any member of the hospital staff, a health care team or a volunteer, you can donate to the Port Perry Hospital Foundation through the Circle of Gratitude program. The health pro- fessional(s) that you wish to recognize will receive Circle of Gratitude pins to proudly wear, and a personalized message informing them that you made a donation in their honour. “It’s really heartwarming to see people taking advantage of this pro- gram and bringing it to life,” commented Port Perry Hospital Foundation CEO Rachel Agnoluzzi. While it has been a long time tradi- tion for patients and family members to donate to the hospital foundation to show their appreciation, the Circle of Gratitude makes it even easier to do so, plus there’s the valued added component of staff recognition. “Everyone who has made a dona- tion is excited,” Rachel continued. It doesn’t have to be a lot of money, she clarified. “People give a donation that is meaningful to them, depend- ing on their circumstances, to say thank-you.” All of the contributions to the hospital foundation are pooled, and spent on purchasing prioritized pieces of equipment and patient care items, Rachel explained. “These gifts help with those priorities.” This new Circle of Gratitude initiative was launched in November of 2018. There are brochures at the hospital and information available online. The historic first Circle of Gratitude pin recipient was Dr. Amita Dayal. Rachel made the official presentation on December 19, 2018. The smiling faces of the award recipients can be seen on the Port Perry Hospital Foundation’s Facebook page, in- cluding Dr. Martin Stewart. The Emergency Dept. team had already been gifted with not one, but two awards, at the time of this writing. The first honouree, Dr. Dayal, a Family Physician at Medical Asso- ciates of Port Perry, commented, “I was so pleasantly surprised to have a Circle of Gratitude donation made in my name. For those of us working in health care, a gesture like this is often a much-needed boost in morale. This program is much appreciated by my- self and so many others.” When saying ‘THANK-YOU” doesn’t quite seem like enough….. Rachel Agnoluzzi, CEO Port Perry Hospital Foundation, with recipient Dr. Martin Stewart. The first recipient of the Circle of Gratitude program, Dr. Amita Dayal with Rachel Agnoluzzi.