WOW June Award Winners – Ross Swope and John Hoover

The WOW award recognizes team members who engage with patients/families, visitors and employees in exceptional ways, providing a superior level of commitment and reflecting the values of Wood County Hospital (WCH). Ross Swope and John Hoover are both Maintenance Technicians and were chosen as the June WOW award winners. Ross and John were nominated for helping out a co-worker and showing selflessness and compassion towards their team. With the arrival of COVID-19 came a pause in elective surgeries and select services that required personal protective equipment (PPE).  With the reduction in hospital service areas, much like many other businesses, the staff hours in hospital departments was temporarily reduced. The maintenance team worked together to find a solution for the hour reduction within their department. Over a six week period, individuals agreed to rotate each week so that three team members would have reduced hours within a two week pay period. As the plan was being finalized, Ross and John shared with a team member that they would each take an additional week of reduced hours as the co-worker has three young children to take care of. The team member tried to refuse Ross and John’s help, but the two insisted, and the selfless act did not go unnoticed. Ross and John shared they felt that because the individual does so much for them they wanted to step up in a time of need and show their appreciation for the hard work and dedication of their co-worker. Ross Swope has been a member of the Wood County Hospital team for over 35 years and shared what he enjoys most is the people and environment at the hospital. John has been a member of the maintenance team for the past 4 years and enjoys the variety of different projects each day that assist with maintaining operations throughout the hospital to ensure it is running smoothly.