Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare recognizes outstanding associates with its quarterly Miracles in Motion awards and annual Inspiration awards. These employees were chosen because they consistently exemplify the caring spirit Methodist prides itself on and go above and beyond their everyday roles to help others.  The fourth quarter 2007 Miracles in Motion award was given to Ruth Ashcraft-Munday, lactation consultant, Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center. The annual Inspiration award was awarded to Loreatha Crumpton, lab services technician, Methodist North, and Kathryn Renea Brooks, patient care assistant, Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, earned both the Miracles in Motion and Inspiration award. 

Ruth Ashcraft-Munday, a Le Bonheur NICU lactation consultant, went the extra mile when a sick, premature infant was recently admitted and she was called to consult the breastfeeding mother.  In addition to supporting and advising the mom, Ruth worked closely with physicians to maximize mom’s ability to continue feeding her child, who could only tolerate mother’s milk. She arranged for the mother to receive donor milk from a donor milk bank in Texas.

Soon Ruth found that the family did not qualify for government assistance, and understood that hospital expenses would make it difficult for them to pay for donor milk for the baby as well as provide their other children, including 1-year old twins, gifts at Christmas. Once again, Ruth took action by contacting the Cynthia Milk Fund to donate the milk the baby would need at home. She also went to her own church community, where they decided to “adopt” this family for Christmas. Food, clothing and toys were collected for the family’s Christmas, and the family was overjoyed and overwhelmed by their generosity.

Ruth Ashcraft-Munday is truly deserving of this award, as she is a shining example of what patient-centered and family-centered care really mean, both on and off the job.

Loreatha Crumpton, a lab services technician at Methodist South, believes that she should to anything she can do within the scope of her job for our patients. A recent example of her dedication involved a toddler who was brought to South for a lab test.