When a bouquet of flowers needed to be delivered to the family of a terminally ill patient, Natalie Fink, gift shop manager at Intermountain Medical Center, and volunteer Patty White, along with other caregivers, went out of their way to make it happen.
Patty White and Natalie Fink
Natalie had received a call earlier in the day from a friend of the patient’s husband who asked that a big flower arrangement be delivered to the patient’s room. Natalie made a special request to her florist for the bouquet and confirmed with the friend it was fine to deliver them later in the day.
By late afternoon, however, the flowers still hadn’t arrived. Natalie needed to leave for the day, so she asked Anita Jensen, gift shop employee, and Ari House, volunteer coordinator, to deliver the flowers as soon as possible. “Ari agreed to stay later than usual to make sure one employee would be in the gift shop at all times,” says Natalie.
But when the flowers finally arrived and Ari took them up the patient’s room, the patient had been discharged.
When Natalie found out, she began making calls, even though she was miles away at home at this point. “I called up to the floor and gave them the entire story,” she says. “I thought it would never happen, but they put me in contact with the patient’s husband. I talked with him and let him know about the flowers and who they were from.”
The husband thanked Natalie but told her he was in no place to pick them up with his wife dying. She says, “He asked me to keep the flowers and thanked me for letting him know.”
Determined not to give up, Natalie asked where he lived and if he’d be comfortable having her deliver them that evening. “He thought this was an amazing gesture and gave me his address,” she says.
Natalie left home and began driving back to the hospital to get the flowers for the delivery. “That’s when Patty called,” she says. “She’d just finished a long shift both in the gift shop and cuddling babies in the NICU. She’d seen the flowers and heard the story.”
Patty told Natalie, “I can take them. I’m about to leave and it’s on my way home. I’d love to deliver them.”
“I was really impressed that she was willing, though I wasn’t surprised,” says Natalie. “Patty is very service-oriented and always willing to do anything extra. She’s an amazing volunteer and an amazing person.”
Patty carried the flowers up to the family’s front porch and left them by the door. Natalie then called to let the husband know. “He was beyond grateful and very emotional,” she says, adding, “We made a big impact on this family during a very hard time. I’m so proud of the service we provided, and grateful to have been a part of it.”