An opportunity to come together and go the extra mile.
By: David Campbell
For staff at The Medical Center at Princeton, the snowstorm that began Sunday afternoon and raged into Monday was an opportunity to come together and go the extra mile hip-deep in snow, if need be.
Ask Alice Lawrence of Hightstown, a home-care nurse who proposed working her rounds Monday on cross-country skis.
Due to poor conditions for skiing, Ms. Lawrence opted instead to set out on foot, traveling a mile in snow that at times was hip-deep in order to change the bandage dressings of a patient in East Windsor.
"It was very cold, and very windy," Ms. Lawrence said, but added the patient was pleased.
"She made me hot cocoa and I sat and chatted a while," the nurse said. "Thank God the one that really needed me was the closest."
Ms. Lawrence called around to her five other home-care patients Monday to ask if her services were needed, but luckily all were able to get by for a day without a visit on Monday, she said.
Hospital spokeswoman Carol Norris said some hospice nurses also braved the harsh weather Monday, setting off on foot to patients’ homes because their cars were buried in snow.
A similar spirit was in evidence at the hospital, which continued to provide patient services throughout the storm, Ms. Norris said.
"There was a real strong sense of camaraderie and a spirit of cooperation, to be here and to help out in any way they could," the hospital spokeswoman said.
More than 30 employees, including nurses, engineering technicians, dieticians and others, came to work Sunday prepared to stay for the duration of the storm, Ms. Norris said.
They brought their sleeping bags with them and bedded down in hospital conference rooms, which were used as communal sleeping quarters.
The hospital cafeteria stayed open until 9 p.m. Sunday, three hours past its regular closing time, providing free food and beverages to staff and visitors.
The offer of free coffee and food was extended to Princeton Township and Princeton Borough workers, said Ms. Norris, themselves working overtime throughout the storm to clear the roads.
Medical Center President Barry Rabner was "rallying the troops" during the storm, serving food in the cafeteria alongside fellow hospital administrators.
"The soul of The Medical Center at Princeton becomes most apparent when our patients and their families need us most because of disease, accident or paralyzing weather," Mr. Rabner said. "Our staff and doctors do heroic things to serve the people they are responsible for."
Nine area residents who owned four-wheel-drive vehicles offered their services to employees and doctors stranded by the snow, driving them to and from work, the spokeswoman said.
One of the hospital’s dedicated volunteers, an 85-year-old man who works several hours a week, was undaunted by the snow, claiming that the storm conditions were nothing compared to what the weather dished up in Maine, where he is from, Ms. Norris said.
"He showed up and was unfazed by the snow," the spokeswoman said.
The hospital continued to provide services throughout the storm. Visiting hours went on as scheduled Monday and the emergency room had a typically busy day, although none of the patients there came for reasons related to the heavy snowfall, Ms. Norris said.
The Medical Center even witnessed something of a good omen during the storm with the delivery of a "blizzard baby," a boy born Monday to a family from Jamesburg.

