UCHC Named
Compassionate Employer for Response to Tragedy
By Philip Franchine
Republished with the permission of the Green Valley Arizona
GREEN VALLEY
The
UCHC also granted employees up to four hours of extra leave time, allowing the
center’s 40 employees to join hundreds of others at the funeral services.
For that response, UCHC was given the 2004 Compassionate
Employer Recognition, one of 30 such awards nationwide bestowed by The
Compassionate Friends, a support group based in Oak Brook, Ill.
“I was so honored by the presence of all my co-workers at my
daughter’s funeral, and the very special gesture given by Laurie Jurs and her
administrative staff, that I feel I can never fully repay them for such extreme
thoughtfulness and graciousness,” Russell-Kibble wrote in an essay to The
Compassionate Friends (TCF).
Plaque for boss
On Wednesday (
Russell-Kibble and medical assistant Carol Mussack, whose daughter died 15
years ago, each gave white roses to the top three
administrators at UCHC.
Ruben, the youngest of Russell-Kibble’s five children, was a
senior in high school and widely loved by classmates, siblings, nieces, nephews
and other relatives, as well as students she taught in a park district swim
class and others.
As Russell-Kibble wrote in a letter to The Compassionate
Friends, “our family is Jewish and so it was imperative (in keeping with Jewish
tradition) for decisions regarding her funeral to be made hastily, and no one
had very much time or notice for special arrangements.”
“Laurie Jurs, executive director, along with Holly Garbini,
operations director, and Dianna Gonzales, RN, clinical supervisor, decided to
close all three offices on Monday morning, July 1, 2002, mostly because of the
flood of requests for staff time off by staff who wished to attend the funeral,”
Russell-Kibble wrote.
Unprecedented decision
“This alone was an unprecedented decision on their parts, as
the clinics had never been closed unless it was a scheduled holiday. And, as if
this were not enough of an honor, these employees were also paid for that time
and did not have to take it out of their regular, earned, leave time. This
time, for all employees wishing to attend Arielle’s funeral, was paid, as ‘special
generic leave’,” Russell-Kibble wrote.
Mussack’s daughter, Karen, was killed in an auto accident in
“They were very supportive. They gave me all the time off I
needed and when I came back they moved me to a different clinic. Karen had
grown up in Arivaca when I was working there, so they had me come to work at
another clinic to give me time to adjust. UCHC has always been more like a
family than an employer. We’ve always been very close,” Mussack said.
Jurs pointed out that over the years, four staff at UCHC have coped with the
deaths of children.
Russell-Kibble, who grew up in
She also noted that she was planning to stop attending TCF
meetings recently but instead was asked to join the steering committee in order
to help others, and so she has increased her involvement.
Other
Mission
The not-for-profit, self-help organization’s mission aims to
help families resolve grief after the death of a child of any age and help
others be supportive.
“The secret of TCF’s success is simple: As seasoned grievers reach out to the newly bereaved, energy that has been directed inward begins to flow outward and both are helped to heal,” the
organization says on its Web site,
www.compassionatefriends.org.
pfranchine@gvnews.com
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