Employee Spotlight: Everyone!

When Dean Carucci, CEO of Portsmouth Regional Hospital, gets an idea, he runs with it. Whether it’s to build and expand an intensive care unit, to launch an ambulance service, or to find a unique way to celebrate and thank hospital staff, he approaches it all with a unique enthusiasm.

And that’s why he stayed late one night: To work alongside Associate Chief Nursing Officer Megan Gray to hang hundreds of photos in the hallway off the main lobby.

When employees came into work the next day, they saw the faces of their colleagues staring back at them, and they searched for their own photos. Suddenly it all made sense to staff – Gray had spent about four months snapping photos of employees on her cell phone during her travels around the hospital, never revealing the boss’s plan.

Then the boxes arrived: Dozens of boxes of six-inch square tiles. And they’re still coming in.

“Staff, as well as patients and visitors, were definitely curious as to what was going on,” Gray said. “Other artwork had been removed, and you could see the faint pencil lines drawn by our facilities team, who also was kept in the dark as to what would be hung on the walls, even though I had already taken their photos as well.”

The goal is to hang hundreds more, to hang a picture of every hospital employee.

The goal is to celebrate Portsmouth Regional Hospital staff and providers who give their all, day in and day out, pandemic or not. To celebrate those who are in the trenches, who have not given up; to celebrate those who show up, who are committed to their patients, colleagues and communities. 

The idea came to Carucci at the end of 2020 as he watched and read year-in-review recaps.

“Every news station, every newspaper and magazine, celebrated healthcare workers,” Carucci said. “Hundreds of snapshots of hospital and healthcare workers around the country and the world who tirelessly dedicated themselves to their crafts. The pictures as individuals were powerful, but the real power is in the team that helps make hospitals run.

“I immediately thought of our own teams, and how hard everyone had been working, how selfless they were. Everyone was exhausted, people had families at home that they needed to care for, but they came to work each day and gave so much of themselves. So I thought showcasing our staff – to our staff – would be a great way to celebrate the individual while celebrating the reason Portsmouth Regional Hospital is such a great place for patients, families and colleagues.”

As you pass through the main lobby of the hospital, you’ll see Carucci’s message with his own masked photo:

“To say that the last couple of years, since the start of COVID-19, are unprecedented would be an understatement. Everyone in this community, our country, and indeed the world, has been affected by the pandemic. But still, We Show Up.

“As you walk through these halls you’ll see hundreds of faces on our walls. Hundreds of faces of healthcare workers who are here for their patients, their communities, and each other every day.

“While some faces may look tired, nearly all of them have smiles. You can’t see it behind the masks, but look in their eyes. The eyes can tell you a lot about a person, and we’re fortunate for that because the eyes are often all we see. Since 2020, healthcare workers have been masked, as have our patients, our neighbors, and our families. Everyone has feared a disconnect, and this is true in healthcare as well, as we have not always been able to see our patients’ facial expressions.

“But we can still see your eyes, and you can see ours.

“On these walls are not just the faces of our doctors. Not just our nurses and other clinicians. They are the faces of our Portsmouth Regional Hospital family. They are colleagues from the lab; radiology; environmental services; facilities; supply chain; patient registration; financial services; mental health; food and nutrition; security; transport; and administration. They are respiratory therapists; physical, occupational and speech therapists; pharmacists; social workers; educators; LNAs and patient care technicians; information technology members; front office staff; volunteers; and many more.

“They are the faces of people who have stepped up to extraordinary odds and have continued the long-standing vision and mission to ensure that no patient has to leave our community for care.

“The founder of our company, Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., once said, ‘Bricks and mortar do not make a hospital. People do.’

“These are our people, and yours. They are the people, the faces, of Portsmouth Regional Hospital.”

More photos have gone up since that first night, down the main hallway, toward the cafeteria, and snaking down the hall toward radiology. Soon they’ll cover the walls leading toward the emergency department.

Like healthcare itself, this project is evolving. And as the hospital continues to add new colleagues to its team, Carucci and Gray will continue to add new faces to the walls.