Working at Children’s Specialized: Sad or inspirational?

“How do you work there? It must be so sad.”

Have you ever gotten that response (or some variation of it) when you tell people you work at Children’s Specialized Hospital? Whether people have come for a tour at one of our sites or have just learned what we do, the response is usually the same – a sense of remorse and sadness.

When I hear this, I immediately launch into my support of the children we serve. 

I tell them that these kids have no idea how sick they really are, and that their main focus is getting home and being with their family. These kids are courageous in ways I could never be and they are determined!

These kids want to be kids – they want to experience joy and laughter. They want to find ways to enjoy life, regardless of any limitations that may be present.

One of our colleagues encouraged me to use my speeches to focus on how we strive to develop our children to be as independent as possible, and how we teach their families to have the courage to advocate and create the most inclusive community possible.

Working at Children’s Specialized Hospital is so much more than providing health care to these children. It is about doing what you would do for a member of your family; giving them the support to achieve all that is possible and reaching their maximum potential.

So, if asked the question, “How do you work there,” how would you respond? What would you say

Regardless, it is still such a blessing to be involved with our children and watch them grow and progress to become amazing adults. It’s not sad to work here, it’s inspirational.

My journey to Children’s Specialized Hospital

I always love to hear the story of how our employees ended up at Children’s Specialized Hospital and became part of the Children’s Family. My story was definitely unique.

So, here goes it!

Because of my extensive knowledge of the insurance industry, I was recruited to join the Board of Directors here at Children’s Specialized by a woman named Deborah Spitalnik, PhD.

I was only able to serve as a member of the Board for a few years, but I saw the great work that happens here through the eyes of one of my fellow Board members and was inspired.

Fast forward a decade later.

I was working as Deputy Chief of Staff for Governor Jim McGreevey, but I knew it was time for me to leave state government. So, I started job hunting.

I received a job offer from another health care system that I didn’t know much about, so I reached out to my friend, Harvey Holzberg – the late president of Robert Wood Johnson – for some advice.

He said to me, “Amy, do not take this job. You need to trust me – you will not do well there.”

I’m not sure why, but something in me said to listen to him. So I did.

A few months later…

Children’s Specialized faced a devastating loss—the current CEO, Charles (Rex) Riley passed unexpectedly.

This is where my story really begins. 

I can’t even tell you how many times I heard that they wouldn’t even look at anyone who didn’t have experience running a hospital, but more specifically a children’s hospital. Even Harvey said I didn’t stand a chance.

Now, most of you know that I have a very determined personality. When someone tells me that I can’t do something, I set out to prove them wrong.

So, I went for it.

From the moment I met the headhunter (for some jobs, there’s a type of “screening” before the interview) I knew she didn’t like me. First, she beat me to the restaurant – Ponzio’s in Cherry Hill. Plus the entire meeting, her body was super tense – and body language says a lot.

Guys, it was a terrible interview.

I already knew getting this job was a long shot because I didn’t meet their requirements, but there was no way this woman was going to blackball me without giving me a chance.

So, I went to work!

Children’s Specialized had just created a new vision, mission, and strategic plan. In addition, everyone in the organization had just suffered a terrible loss.

I instinctively knew that the headhunter’s more experienced candidates would want to change things to fit what they thought was “right.” Not me. I wanted to implement everything that you already worked so hard for!

So, I packaged myself as the perfect addition to all of the hard work and progress that had already been done.

Spoiler alert: I got an interview.

The interview process was extensive—full day of interviews and 9 hours of meeting over 100 different people back to back. I was exhausted but confident that this was the place for me, where I wanted to be.

Then, I met all of you. And thankfully you all (well, those who worked here at that time) felt it—my empathy for the pain you all were feeling and my promise to help bring your new vision and mission to life.

While I may not have known how to run a hospital I knew how to get out of the way and let you all shine. I also knew that together we could get to success. 

So here I am today, almost 12 years later! I am surrounded by talented, dedicated people who do amazing things for our kids.

So, what does your path to Children’s Specialized look like?

Pride and Joy

Last weekend, I traveled back to college for the Alabama LSU football game. It seems like a lifetime ago since 1987, when I left Tuscaloosa Alabama. Coming back 25 plus years later, I was asked a lot about each of you and the work that we do. Every time I spoke about the opportunity we have been given to care for these amazing children, they saw the sparkle in my eye and the pride of being let into families lives when they need us most. 

I told the story about our patient who literally asked a Congressman after his visit "where's the cash?" Because I had told her he was giving us money after he read us a story. Or the look on the face of a young man after he rode a horse for the first time after suffering a TBI, or watching graduates of Friday Night Fever taking on the role of leader or the many times we stood together at viewings and funerals to grieve the loss of a colleague or their loss of a loved one. Each and every story showed the love in my heart and the privilege I feel in being part of this organization.

I often receive little notes, or emails, or are stopped in the hallway by many of you telling me stories about how working at Children’s Specialized has truly changed your life for the better. We often share inspirational stories about our patient success, I thought I might ask each of you to share your stories about the children and families you have worked with or even your colleagues who you have seen extend themselves.  Our “average length of stay” here with our staff is not that average.  Our staff tends to stick around, and for good reason!  I’m sure you all have some great stories. 

Let’s hear about making life long friends or even finding love here at work; or how you grew your career here – starting in dietary and moving up to nurse manager? How about a personal story about how employees truly supported you during a crisis?  Superstorm Sandy is a great example of how we rallied around each other.

The joy of telling our story over and over last weekend brought me such joy; I thought I would create the opportunity for each of you to share the great things that happen here, with our employees!