As a health care facility dedicated to delivering quality, cost-effective healthcare to patients in a kind, caring, and respectful environment, North Fulton Regional Hospital is extending this reach to stress the importance of safety, both within the hospital and in the community.

     During the week of March 4 through March 10, departments of the hospital celebrated National Patient Safety Week.  This week included a staff suggestion contest where employees submitted ideas to improve patient safety, a safety survey to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the hospital and a patient safety trivia game.  Kathy McGowan, a representative from the Georgia Hospital Association, was also on hand during a lunch hour make a presentation titled, “Your Words Save Lives – The Role of Communication in Patient Safety.”

     North Fulton Regional Hospital also urges people to make safety a top priority in their everyday lives.  As a sponsor of Safety Town, a children’s safety initiative hosted by the Roswell Junior Woman’s Club, the hospital is helping to teach children valuable lessons about motor vehicle and pedestrian safety.  This unique town gives children the opportunity to experience hands-on learning in a town their size, complete with models of buildings located throughout the Roswell area. 

     The young participants of Safety Town have the opportunity to drive big wheels down streets specially designed for them, practicing the various arts of stopping at stop signs, yielding to pedestrians and slowing down for yellow traffic signals.  As pedestrians, they also learn to look both ways before crossing streets and to cross at designated crosswalk locations. 

     “These kids are capable of learning so much about road safety,” said Kelly Meer, organizer of Safety Town.  “If we can teach them early, it will make for better drivers ten years from now.”

     Sign recognition is another focus of the program, with one being the big blue “H” stationed next to the model of North Fulton Regional Hospital.