May Employees of the Month

Terri Massey, Volunteer & Guest Services
"On May 22, the wife of a patient approached Terri about laundry service. Terri gave her the information about the closest laundry services, but due to her own health issues, she was unable to walk to the laundromat. She explained to Terri that she had soiled her clothes and only had one spare set. Terri took the soiled laundry home and brought them back cleaned. Terri contacted some laundromats and established a pick-up and drop-off service that families may utilize with the assistance of a house concierge."
Nominated by Katy Kuder

Bill Crummer, Support Services/Biomedical Engineering
"We had one of our X-ray tube's alarm go off while a patient was on the table. Bill was paged and responded right away. Bill noticed the tube was overheating and that was causing the alarm. When this happens you run many different risks to the machine and possibly the patient. In order to immediately fix the problem, Bill poured cool water into the recycling bin and began to manually pour it into the cooling system and drain it so that the tube would stay cool. Because of Bill's quick thinking, we finished the case without a problem."
Nominated by Jamie Hogan

Vanessa Stewart, Volunteer & Guest Services
"Vanessa had a family that was brought here due to a car accident. The grandmother was in ICU and the others had suffered injuries that were not life threatening. She called me to get clothes for a few of the family members because they had been cut out of their garments on the scene. She called around, working with the social worker to get this family clothes. Having everything left in the car, also left them with very little to eat. I had a few meal tickets I gave them, but she also used her badge to get them food until a family member could get here. Not knowing anyone here, you could see the relief in their eyes each time she appeared. Vanessa's compassionate attitude touches the heart of so many families she encounters."
Nominated by Contrenia Haynes

Cassandra Whaley, Pharmacy Services
"Cassandra goes above and beyond to help patients get the medications they need. The following is a copy of another letter I received from a thankful family. 'My wife had a bone marrow transplant on Dec. 11, 2011, and has encountered more than her share of setbacks. One of these serious threats to her life occurred in February when the virus showed positive in her blood tests. The medical team immediately put her on tablets to counteract this deadly virus. When I picked up the prescription, I found out that these pills have a retail price of $50 each. I contacted Cassandra and requested a meeting with her to see if there were any viable options. Cassandra met with me the next morning. Upon my arrival, she had already made some calls about the prescription. I want to commend Cassandra for her sense of urgency. She has demonstrated caring as if we were family.' I am grateful she chose to work for MUSC."
Nominated by Lynn Uber

Physician of the Month

Zachary Soler, M.D., Otolaryngology
"I have been a patient of Dr. Soler's since 2011, and I have never had a more kindhearted, empathetic and knowledgeable doctor. I started seeing Dr. Soler for what I thought was another yearly routine sinus infection that turned into sinus surgery and beyond. After hearing great things and viewing Dr. Soler's biography I knew he would be the right choice. When sinus surgery came to be a possible option, he sat down with my husband and me and explained every aspect of the surgery before, during, after and also told me how many surgeries he has performed. Once the surgery day arrived, he stopped by to check on me before my surgery even though he had other cases earlier that morning. He even called me the next day to see how I was doing. I believe he is the paragon of what every physician can look to and follow."
Nominated by Ali McAbee