When most people think of Christmas, they think of spending time with family, opening presents, and enjoying food—all things that typically happen while off work.

But a portion of the workforce—especially those with jobs on the frontlines—step up to ensure the community still has access to essential services, like healthcare.

Nik Saxon and Kelsey Goins are two of the thousands of our employees who sacrificed time with their loved ones on Christmas Day to ensure those in our community receive high-quality care, no matter when they come through our doors.

24/7 care

Nik is a nursing supervisor at the Network Operations Command Center (NOCC). He and the staff at the NOCC support the transfer of patients into, within, or out of our system, depending on their care needs. “It’s like air traffic control for a health system,” he explains.

Nik isn’t new to working Christmas Day. In fact, he even volunteers each year.

He has wonderful memories of Christmas from his childhood with his brother and his parents, who weren’t required to work holidays. He wants other children to have the same opportunity.

“I just felt like I needed to volunteer to take Christmas off the plate of a co-worker of mine with young kids, so they could form those memories with their kids and families like I was fortunate enough to have enjoyed during my own childhood,” said Nick.

Kelsey Goins serves as a health unit coordinator and nursing assistant (HUC/NA) in Kettering Health Troy’s emergency center. She’s no stranger to working holidays either—but this will be her first Christmas Day shift with our system, having just joined our team in March.  

“I’ve always liked to work holidays,” Kelsey said. “I don’t have kids and a lot of my grandparents have passed away.”

She said even if they were still around, she’d rather celebrate the holiday early so she can work Christmas Day and a co-worker with children can be off. The holiday pay doesn’t hurt, either, she said.

Expecting the unexpected

Both Nik and Kelsey recognized that there’s really no way to know what the day will hold. “It’s just the mystery of healthcare—you never know what’s going to come to the door,” Nik said.

Kelsey agrees: You just have to “hope for the best and prepare for the worst.”

Paul Quinn was preparing for the holiday, too—in the kitchen. As corporate chef and network director of Culinary Services, he ensured we provided a special meal for patients spending Christmas in our medical centers.

“We provided additional choices to our menu to give hospitalized patients a sense of celebration and joy while being away from family and friends,” he said.

Two options were added to our menu: baked perogies topped with mushroom sauce and served with carrots, and beef tenderloin tips topped with mushroom sauce and served with rosemary roasted potatoes and carrots. Chocolate peppermint cheesecake, a holiday favorite, concluded the special meal.

While food brings comfort for some, others look to their faith. That’s where our chaplains come in.

Keeping the faith

Our chaplains play an important role in supporting patients, their families, and our staff in our medical centers every day, but especially through the holidays.

Ron Swiger serves as a chaplain at KH Greene Memorial. Though he had this year off, he traditionally works Christmas Eve.

In his experience, patients hospitalized on the eve or day of Christmas may be dealing with many emotions. Most common, he says, are feelings of guilt for not taking care of a health concern sooner, resulting in the disruption of their families’ plans, or anger if an accident has led to them missing Christmas.

“As a chaplain, you’re representing that things happen that we can’t explain, and our role is just to be there, if they would like, to pray over them and encourage them,” said Ron.

He says our chaplain’s approach is generally the same on a holiday as it is on any other day, though they pay close attention to any clues or signs of extra anxiety and struggle the patient (or staff) may be facing.

Supporting employees during the holidays is another key part of the chaplain’s role. Those in healthcare, especially on the frontlines, typically understand that working on holidays is part of the job. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t difficult at times.

“We just try to encourage them to think of the service they’re doing—that today is your calling,” he said. “We’re sensitive that it’s kind of a tough time for them, while remembering it’s part of the work we do.”

Kelsey and Nik were part of that team ensuring our doors stayed open on Christmas Day.

Care with a purpose

Working her first Christmas Day shift in KH Troy’s emergency center, Kelsey was surprised by the number of injuries. There were many patients with lacerations and even a severe dog bite.

Other common cases were the flu and COVID-19. Needless to say, she stayed busy.

Nik’s shift started slow but picked up pace as the day went on—a typical Monday at the NOCC, he says.

He was grateful for a bit of a Christmas miracle that day. “One of our team members picked up an extra shift which prevented us from working two nurses short, and they did so with such a positive attitude,” he said.

One aspect of the day he could count on was the NOCC’s Christmas Carry-in, and it was his favorite part of working Christmas Day. “The dishes usually have a story or tradition tied to them. So, it’s fun to learn what other people like to make and eat on Christmas,” Nik said. “And it’s fun to eat!”

His favorite item this year was a co-worker’s sausage biscuits.

Both Kelsey and Nik were glad they stepped up to work on Christmas Day, and plan to do it again next year.

“I’m happy to make sure our department is covered, so my co-workers can enjoy the time with their families,” said Nik.

Plus, as Chaplain Ron said, “A lot of places are completely closed, so you kind of feel more purpose in working that day.

I think there are some blessings hidden in there.”