A Pebble in a Pond
Date: March 28, 2005

It was supposed to be an isolated act of kindness, but acts of kindness are seldom isolated. More often, they set off ripples of good things — like a pebble in a pond.

A shoeless patient in Floyd’s Emergency Care Center, a drifter called Joe, needed care for his sore and blistered feet. Dr. Todd Hold cleaned and bandaged Joe’s feet and was ready to send him on his way when he realized Joe had no shoes. Rather than return Joe to the elements without protection for his feet, the physician gave this drifter his own tennis shoes.

“They don’t exactly fit you,” Dr. Hold said as he laced the shoes snugly on Joe’s feet, “but maybe they will help you until you can get some more.”

Elisa Dotson, a radiology technician at Floyd, witnessed this act of kindness, and, inspired, nominated Dr. Hold for a Floyd Hero award — another ripple.

“Dr. Hold has the biggest heart of anybody that I know,” she said.

Dr. Hold was named a Hero, and was the subject of an Outstanding Story of Caring in May of 2003.

About a year and half later, Donna Thompson in the public relations department received an email from Lands’ End, supplier of clothing embroidered with the Floyd logo. The company was looking for unsung heroes for an upcoming catalog.

The Public Relations Department nominated Dr. Hold, and the folks at Lands’ End were as inspired as we were, so much so that they sent a creative team to Rome to photograph Dr. Hold along with several other members of the Floyd family to feature them in upcoming Lands’ End catalogs.

Dr. Hold and the story of his compassion will be featured on the cover of the April Lands’ End catalog. And, the April, May and other warm-weather catalogs from Lands’ End will feature clothes modeled by Dr. Hold and other Floyd co-workers. Now. 2.5 million corporate customers will learn of Dr. Hold, Floyd and our commitment to compassionate care – another ripple.

The already inspiring story could end here, but the ripples continue to expand.

The Lands’ End team who came to Floyd fell in love with our people-oriented organization and wanted to do something more to honor Dr. Hold and Floyd.

And they have.

Earlier this month, Floyd Healthcare Foundation received a charitable donation from Lands’ End to honor Dr. Hold. Appropriately, the organization sent $2,000 worth of new shoes in various sizes. They are to be given to ECC patients like Joe, who, for whatever reason, need shoes to wear home.

In honor of Dr. Hold and his unfailing generosity, the closet of shoes will be called “The Shoe Hold,” and the ripples will continue, touching lives and generating more acts of kindness, each one traceable to a single act of compassion by a Floyd physician.

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