CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Outside Chesapeake Regional Medical Center on Thursday afternoon, health care professionals, hospital staff and volunteers got a show of thanks for their tireless work in a relentless pandemic.
"They do that, even before the pandemic, but especially when we're in a public health emergency," said Julian Walker, vice president of communications with the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA).
VHHA showed up with a billboard truck, snacks and goodie bags.
Early Thursday morning, the association spent time at Sentara Norfolk General and CHKD to do the same.
In fact, the group traveled the Commonwealth all week for its hospital appreciation tour. Efforts continue Friday at hospitals in Fredericksburg, Mechanicsville and Richmond.
In Chesapeake, the gesture made nurses Jaime Budy and Stacy Williams feel recognized.
"It means a lot to me, because we've gone through that last 18 months or two years of really a lot of challenges," said Budy, a clinical nursing supervisor at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center.
For others, the event served as a reminder.
"We just need to be reminded to thank every day, but especially when they're giving even more," said Kristi Wooten, chair of the Chesapeake Hospital Authority.
"Tell your healthcare providers 'thank you,' if you meet them out in the community, recognize that they're still working very hard to keep patients safe, while they're trying to keep themselves safe," said Associate Chief Nursing Officer Jeannine Simon.
The hope is to also boost morale.
"There's a shortage of workforce almost everywhere. And so, when you work in an environment where there is an appreciation, it makes you want to come to work, it makes you want to tell a friend they should come to work," said City of Chesapeake Mayor Rick West.
And it's a line of work that became an eye-opening experience during the pandemic.
"It showed me how much I really do enjoy and love being a nurse. Whatever may come, I'm here for the long haul," said Williams, a registered nurse who works in the mother and babies unit. "Yeah, I agree," said Budy.
VHHA urges vaccination against COVID-19 as another show of appreciation to health care workers. It's a small gesture, the association said, that can put a big relief on strained hospital systems.