RMH was the only Virginia employer in a field of more than 80 recipients of the award for 2007. RMH received the award because it went “above and beyond” in showing empathy to employees, said Karl
Snepp, chairman of TCF’s employer recognition committee.

RMH CEO T. Carter Melton Jr. accepted the award on behalf of RMH at a ceremony April 9 at the hospital.

Each year, The Compassionate Friends honors employers nationwide who have shown exceptional caring and compassion when an employee has experienced the death of a child, sibling or grandchild. 

“Following this tragic loss, an employee’s return to work is often fraught with frustration as the bereaved employee faces rigid management policies, as well as supervisors and fellow workers who have no idea how to interact with an employee who is grieving,” Snepp said.

“To the contrary, however, your organization is being recognized for going ‘above and beyond’ what is customary in the workplace,” he said of RMH.

Judy Keens, an RMH nurse, nominated the hospital for this award based on the support she and her family received when her 10-year-old son, William “Garry” Garrison Keens, was killed by a drunk driver in 1997.

“One of the reasons I nominated the hospital is that they’ve been so compassionate and healing in helping our family through the healing process,” Keens said. “When my son died I got so much support from the people I work with. Everyone helped take care of us.”

RMH prints and mails the local TCF chapter’s newsletters to about 300 families at no cost, Keens said.

The local Compassionate Friends support group, sponsored by the Grief and Loss Program of the RMH Center for Behavioral Health, meets at 7 p.m. the second Monday of each month at Harrisonburg First Presbyterian Church, Court Square. For information, contact Grief and Loss Services at 433-4427.
 
The Compassionate Friends is the nation’s largest self-help bereavement organization with nearly 600 chapters serving all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico.

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