Team shares passion for healthy, balanced nutrition
A commitment to the ExceptionalLee Promise (which states: “We promise to listen and communicate effectively, embrace empathy, act with compassion and continually improve care – creating a safe, comforting and healing environment for our patients, their families and each other.”) and passion for their work guides team members throughout Lee Health. As president & CEO, I am honored to share stories that allow me to shine the light on employees and teams who live the ExceptionalLee Promise and whose efforts inspire others.
One way I share stories is through monthly “Exceptional You Shout-outs.” The most recent shout-out highlighted the efforts of several of our registered dietitian nutritionists that took the opportunity to raise awareness of their field during National Nutrition Month.
The team of dietitian nutritionists, including Alison Duffey, Ashley Lovetere, Gina Skaronea, Leigha Messner, Noel Konken, Kat Galeos, Lisa Roth and Jeanne Struve, worked together with Lee County to officially recognize National Nutrition Month. Team members shared articles in The News-Press and our Lee Health Healthy New Blog about developing proper, healthful eating plans that are practical and sustainable. They also recorded a Health Matters segment (which airs on NBC-2), hosted Facebook Live cooking classes and organized a food drive for patients of the Cystic Fibrosis clinic.
Internally, within Lee Health, the team created a recipe challenge, which encouraged employees to submit their favorite healthy recipes. Our registered dietitian nutritionists taste-tested the recipes and selected four winners.
The top recipes (which included veggie Bolognese, banana chocolate chip muffins, black bean burgers and one-pan Caribbean jerk chicken) were shared in our internal newsletter to inspire everyone to try a new, healthy dish. Alison also created a quick guide that introduced our Lee Health registered dietitian nutritionists, so everyone across our health system could meet the team.
I’m impressed with this team’s creativity and use of different platforms to share their passion, expertise and dedication to balanced nutrition, which helps build a foundation for a healthy lifestyle.
More:Lee Health: A year of challenges and triumph
Larry Antonucci, M.D., MBA is the president & CEO of Lee Health, Southwest Florida’s major destination for health care offering acute care, emergency care, rehabilitation and diagnostic services, health and wellness education, and community outreach and advocacy programs. Visit www.LeeHealth.org to learn more.
