Saying Thanks in So Many Ways for So Many Things At Concord Hospital, heartfelt expressions of gratitude come in many forms and mean many things. Grateful patientsand their loved ones or friends say thanks with tearful hugs and warm letters. They join businesses and countless others by volunteering their time, offering goods and services and making generous contributions. Concord Hospital and its caregivers humbly acknowledge the gratitude by working every day to improve the care that earns them praise, and recognizing that often, a ‘thank you’ is an important part of an individual’s healing. “Expressing gratitude often allows people to complete the cycle of their illness or their disease or medical emergency,”said Pamela Puleo, Executive Director of Concord Hospital Trust, the organization that directs charitable support for the Hospital. “It’s another healing moment and could even be more healing than the sutures a surgeon performed.” With 30 years of experience helping build support for Concord Hospital, Pamela believes most individuals or businesses that make gifts do so for reasons beyond a simple feeling of obligation. “People are making gifts to say thank you, to say I appreciate that you are here, to complete a cycle for themselves,” she said. “More gifts come from the heart than from the wallet.” At the Hospital, gifts are directed according to a donor’s wishes to specific programs or equipment or to honor specific Hospital employees or departments. Nomatter the amount of a financial gift or the number of hours someone volunteers, all help sustain the Hospital. “The size of the contributionreally doesn’t matter,” Pamela said. “Everything comes together supporting our ability to do something magical.” The Hospital regularly receives donations from one grateful patient, a dollar at a time. “His one-dollar gifts are about him genuinely expressing gratitude,” she said. “I take great joy when I open his envelopes, because I know his dollars, combined with others, will make a difference and I know what that gift meant to him.” The Hospital and the community benefit from hundreds of people who say thanks by volunteering tens of thousands of hours, from serving on Hospital boards or committees to organizing fundraising events, from raising money for Rock ‘N Race teams to performing music or knitting blankets for patients. “Those who volunteer make this place hum,” Pamela said. Concord Hospital recognizes that gratitude goes both ways. Donors often make gifts to remember a loved one, to say thanks for their own care or honor someone who provided that care. Hospital caregivers are grateful in return. Being acknowledged for their work through donations or precious letters of thanks helps them recognize they have an important impact. And all gifts help ensure Concord Hospital will continue providing exceptional care into the future.