​​​Atrium Health Floyd's Palliative Care Team Brings Family Together

ROME, Ga., Nov. 28, 2023 – Family dynamics are difficult, even in the best of families. Sometimes, though, a relational crack develops into a canyon that seems unnavigable. Such was the case with Atrium Health Floyd patient Mr. Smithson.

He had lost all contact with his children and his eight siblings. It had been three decades since they had seen or heard from him. After several years of fruitless searches, his family assumed he was dead.

The years of separation and the natural progression of aging took their toll. Smithson found himself a patient at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center in the Palliative Care program, his health declining. He became more and more unresponsive and was less and less able to make his own medical decisions. He needed someone to make these decisions on his behalf.

The patient had a long-time friend, but she had no legal standing to make decisions for him. There are protocols in place to address difficult circumstances like this one, but the best option is always to locate a family member who is empowered to make these treatment and end-of-life decisions.

Katrice Crouch is a social worker on the Palliative Care team. Julie Holyoak is the clinical manager. Together, they began searching for a family member who could make decisions for the patient. Crouch and Holyoak explained this need to Smithson's friend.

The friend told them the patient had never mentioned any family but did say Smithson had been visited by a private investigator a couple of years earlier. Could the investigator help them find the connection Smithson needed?

Crouch used information from the private investigator to continue her search. A series of calls resulted in a conversation with the sheriff of a county in another state. He agreed to help, and about an hour later, Crouch received a telephone number. It was the last known number associated with Smithson's son.

It was the end of the workday, but Crouch, encouraged by her progress, kept going. Fingers crossed, she dialed the number. Halfway around the world, Taylor Smithson didn't answer his phone. It was late. He had just gotten home from work. A call from an unknown number from an unknown city for an unknown reason could wait.

Somewhat apprehensive, Crouch left a message: She was a hospital social worker. She had a patient who was very sick. Taylor may be related to him. Her patient needed someone to make some difficult health care decisions for him. Please call.

It's almost impossible to consider how it would feel to learn that a man you had not seen in 30 years, a man you thought had died was alive and needed you. Confused and intrigued, Taylor returned Crouch's call the next day. After a series of questions, Taylor confirmed that the patient could very well be his father. However, he didn't feel comfortable making those difficult decisions, especially from a distance of more than 7,000 miles away. He asked for time to consider her request and offered to connect Crouch with his father's oldest sister, who lived in the United States.

That connection set into motion a family reunion. A second call resulted in 12 family members talking together, all in disbelief. When Crouch shared a picture of Smithson with them, gasps and sobs escaped mouths on the other end of the line. He looked almost exactly like their father. The patient was most definitely their brother, their uncle and Taylor's father. One of his sisters agreed to make health care decisions for her brother and asked Crouch if they could come and visit with him.

Within a couple of days, all of Smithson's siblings were at Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center to see the brother they had not seen in 30 years.

If the reunion itself was not miraculous enough, their visit brought even more extraordinary results. Almost immediately, the patient began to improve. He responded to commands. He began to eat, and he engaged with his siblings and caregivers. Before long, Smithson was well enough to go home.

The care team was elated. Mr. Smithson's improvement, combined with the reconnection to his family, was more than they could ever have imagined. Their efforts had resulted in an especially successful story.

A few weeks after Smithson was discharged, Crouch received a phone call from the main lobby of Floyd Medical Center. Someone with a package was there to see her. The gentleman was insistent that he wanted to meet her.

Waiting in the lobby was Taylor. He gave a bouquet of flowers to Crouch, thanking her for saving his father's life and for reconnecting his family. Taylor said he felt compelled to thank those who had cared for his father. His mother, he explained, had worked as a nursing assistant and currently works in a Veterans Administration hospital.

“I know how much of a thankless job people in health care actually have," he said. “I wanted to be the person to say, 'thank you,' for what you did, not for me, but for my family."

The thanks, Crouch told him, was misplaced. The Palliative Care team insists Smithson's recovery is directly attributable to his reconnection with his family.

“It was his family that turned his health around," Holyoak said. "The fact is everybody needs somebody."

Family members say otherwise. It was the care the Atrium Health Floyd team provided Smithson and the diligence of Crouch and Holyoak that made the difference, Taylor said.

“What she did was very important. Katrice did way more than anyone would ever do," he said.

Because of the persistence of Crouch, Holyoak and the rest of the Palliative Care team, this holiday season a family will be celebrating restoration and reconciliation after more than 30 years apart. 

About Atrium Health Floyd
The Atrium Health Floyd family of health care services is a leading medical provider and economic force in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd is part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Floyd employs more than 3,5 00 teammates who provide care in over 40 medical specialties at three hospitals: Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center – a 304-bed full-service, acute care hospital and regional referral center in Rome, Georgia; Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Georgia; and Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama; as well as Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Behavioral Health – a freestanding 53-bed behavioral health facility in Rome – and also primary care and urgent care network locations throughout northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama.

About Advocate Health 
Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States – created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois, Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health serves nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies. It is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs nearly 155,000 team members across 68 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations and offers one of the nation's largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to equitable care for all, Advocate Health provides nearly $6 billion in annual community benefits. ​​​