Using a collaborative approach and a healthy dose of compassion and reactivity, the 7 West Medicine Unit team is bringing hope and healing to patients at the Misericordia Community Hospital and beyond. The team of over 50 caregivers participates in a Christmas gift box campaign each year for underprivileged children abroad and held a potluck fundraiser last year to support a local women's shelter.

The team includes: nursing and administrative staff, physicians, a nurse educator, social workers, spiritual care workers, pharmacists, volunteers, dieticians, therapists and housekeeping staff. For these men and women, patients come first and each is seen as an individual with a story, a hope and a dream. "I was moved by the examples given of this team's work," says one member of the 2002 Mission Awards Committee. "For example, they made possible one young couple's dream to marry despite the groom's debilitating condition. They got him well enough to get to the wedding and then provided a decorated 'honeymoon suite' for the couple so he could continue his treatment on the unit. That's compassion at work."