2010
After-Hours Nurse has 'Heart of Gold'
By John Perry
Featured in Texas Medical Center News
Unless you work weekends at The Lakes, you might never get to meet Sandra Strassner, R.N., B.S.N. She’s a triage nurse one After-Hours Nurse Hotline, where she’s been advising callers about their symptoms almost every Saturday and Sunday since November 2000.
“A lot of the callers are asking about fevers and temperatures,” Sandra says. “We answer questions and provide them with continuity-of-care assurance beyond normal business hours.”
Using doctor-approved protocols to assess symptoms, After-Hours nurses can advise callers, page on-call physicians and even schedule appointments.
When not providing telephonic care, Sandra takes an active homebuilding role in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project for Habitat for Humanity.
“It’s important for people to have a home,” Sandra says. “I strongly believe it’s a human’s right that people have a decent place to live.”
Since 1998, her commitment has taken her to such faraway places as South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines, but also closer to home like Biloxi, Miss.
Wherever the location, she pays her own way. Once there, she’s a double asset. While plying her construction skills she also applies her nurse’s training by attending to colleagues at the volunteer’s clinic.
An R.N since 1980, she is considered a valued member of the After-Hours team.
“Sandra is a long-term employee with a heart of gold,” says Lynn Smith-Cronin, R.N., B.S.N., manager of After-Hours triage. “She barely misses a day and is always willing to step up and help when we have a nurse who is unexpectedly off.”
Her Call Center team members appreciate Sandra’s work ethic and her sensitivity to patients.
“She’s spiritual and compassionate,” says Nancy Perkins, R.N., B.S., with Kelsey-Seybold since 2000. “Patients are extremely blessed when Sandra’s their After-Hours nurse.”
Sandra with President and Mrs. Carter at Biloxi, Miss.
Founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity is an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization devoted to building decent and affordable housing. Homes are built using volunteer labor and are sold for no profit. President and Mrs. Carter have been continuously involved since 1984.
2009
Kelsey-Seybold Clinic employees and patients alike will join together during the month of October to support two great causes: Light the Night and Race for the Cure.
Mark Your Calendar: Oct. 3, 10 and 25
Team Kelsey will be at Sam Houston Park downtown for Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Oct. 3. We’ll participate in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Oct. 10 at Discovery Green Park and Oct. 25 at Market Street in The Woodlands.
Light the Night
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s annual Light the Night Walk is a nationwide event that is held each year to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of patients and their families battling leukemia, Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and myeloma.
Kelsey-Seybold led corporate donors for the 2008 Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Campaign in Houston with 27 teams raising nearly $27,000, setting a new record and surpassing six other local companies in donations.
Team Kelsey raised $22,000 raised through bake sales, theme-party lunches, payroll contributions and fundraising walks.
Donations go toward blood cancer research for the Texas Gulf Coast Chapter. Kelsey-Seybold Clinic is proud to once again to serve as an official sponsor.
Kelsey-Seybold’s fundraising teams have participated with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for nearly 20 years and with the annual Light the Night campaign since 2001, with Team Kelsey annually raising an average of $18,000.
Race for the Cure
In 2008, the Kelsey-Seybold Clinic Cancer Center brought together employees, physicians, patients and their friends and family members to form Team Kelsey-Seybold in Houston’s Komen Race for the Cure in the fight against breast cancer.
This was Kelsey-Seybold Clinic Cancer Center’s fourth year to participate in the event and the most successful in fundraising efforts. Team Kelsey-Seybold raised $15,252 for cancer research, education, detection and treatment.
Team Kelsey was recognized for being one of the top 15 fundraisers in the Houston area and three of its team members were recognized for being individual top fundraisers. The Susan G. Komen Houston affiliate topped groups worldwide in funds raised.
Our Radiology Department and Cancer Center are spearheading this year's effort.
Free ‘Team Kelsey’ T-Shirt
Join us as we participate in these two nationwide events and receive a free “Team Kelsey” T-shirt for your participation. If you’d like join Team Kelsey for Light the Night, please fill out this form. If you'd like to join us in the Race for the Cure please register here.
Click here to learn more about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, click here.
2008
Kelsey-Seybold Leads in Corporate Donations for 2008 Light the Night Campaign
Kelsey-Seybold Clinic led corporate donors for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's 2008 Light the Night Campaign in Houston. The Kelsey-Seybold teams raised nearly $27,000, setting a new record and surpassing six other local companies in donations. This year's campaign raised a grand total of $475,000 toward blood cancer research for the 2008 campaign for the Texas Gulf Coast Chapter.
"This has been an outstanding campaign and I am so very proud of Kelsey-Seybold Clinic and the passion of our employees to make a difference," said Joan Wolochin, social worker and Light the Night coordinator at Kelsey-Seybold. "Despite Hurricane Ike and the current economy, Kelsey-Seybold was out there fighting to find that cure for all blood cancers."
Kelsey-Seybold employees raised $22,000 alone through bake sales, theme-party lunches, payroll contributions and fundraising walks. In addition to the funds that employees raised, Kelsey-Seybold Clinic will make a $5,000 corporate donation. Kelsey-Seybold's fundraising teams have participated with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for nearly 20 years and with the annual Light the Night campaign since 2001. Kelsey-Seybold been a corporate donor since 2001 and annually raises an average of $18,000.
