Inside Athena: The Woman Safely Getting Sharon Residents To And From Appointments
Leslie Ann Gros alongside Administrator Edward Baker
SHARON, C.T. — Leslie Ann Gros joined Sharon Health Care Center in 2009 and has stayed because of its home-like atmosphere.
The C.N.A. is also the medical transport for residents who need to get to and from necessary appointments. She can pick up new admissions or residents from the hospital using the Sharon van. The time behind the wheel offers moments for her to be one-on-one with the resident and ease any concerns they may have about their health.
“They need to get better. So they don’t have to worry about how they’re going to get from A and B and if family’s going to take them, they just need to get better and that’s my role,” Leslie said.
As she waited for a patient receiving X-rays, she describes how she is their “lifeline” when out on the road.
“If I know a patient is on four liters of oxygen, I do take somebody with me just in case there is an emergency. Every aspect is always a crucial one,” she said. “I think about the patient. They need me, so I just have to do my job which is getting them safe to where they’re going.”
When she’s not on the floor providing direct care to residents, she is getting them ready to leave the building and making sure she is also ready for the trip. If the resident needs food, she has it. If they get cold, she’s prepared to warm them up. She wants to make sure they’re comfortable. And it’s the smiles they share with her that she enjoys the most.
“The satisfaction that they don’t have to worry about anything. Let me take care of you,” she said. “When I take them, it’s more of a family… like you’re my family by extension.”
The residents’ smiles radiate onto the staff. Gros said the smiles from the Sharon team are what residents remember, and why they keep choosing Sharon as their next home.
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