MDVIP Ambassador Peggy Vandervander
Peggy Vandervander, who works for MDVIP affiliate Dr. Samuel Caughron in Charlottesville, VA, is an MDVIP Ambassador for going above and beyond the call of duty and making her patients feel welcome, valued and loved.
"The person who is most impactful in my life is my grandfather. When I was young, I was a little afraid of him. Some might describe him as a ‘cranky old man.’ I have memories of him barking orders at me to fetch the chicken eggs. Unfortunately, he suffered a stroke which rendered him paralyzed on one side of his body and unable to speak. One day, when my grandmother was bathing him, she asked me to help. I perched beside where he was sitting and began to wash his feet. I was about eight years old. When I finished, he took his good hand and patted me on the head. I asked my grandmother why he did that, and she explained that it was his way of thanking me for helping him feel better. It made me feel so good, and from that day forward I knew I would do something in my life to take care of people and make them feel better. My grandfather is the reason I became a nurse." -- Peggy Vandervander
Noteworthy Nominations:
I am the practice manager for Dr. Caughron, and I cannot say enough wonderful things about this employee. She has been with Dr. Caughron for over 30 years and always goes above and beyond for the patients. She not only takes wonderful medical care of them, but emotionally. She will go see them in nursing homes on her own time, take them out to bingo so they can socialize, and even take them for a ride in her 57 T-bird, just so they can get out. We have a 90-year-old patient who she has invited to ride in her 57 T-bird, and the patient couldn't be more thrilled for that invite. She has given some of her own equipment to them, such as a walker following surgery, and took one of our patients a potty chair when he got sick. She went with one of our patients to surgery and stayed with her until she woke up, because the patient requested her to be there, and felt that she made her feel very calm, and it made her feel safe that Peggy was there. She lent one of our patients a knee walker when he needed it.
--Employee of Dr. Caughron