I don't want to go anywhere else
Maranda passed by four other hospitals to give birth at Lakeview and subsequently to visit the ER for a medical emergency. Why? Because she trusts them.
Take me to Lakeview Hospital: I trust them
On her way to Lakeview Hospital, Maranda Kealamakia drives past four other hospitals. She intentionally places hospital preference over proximity for non-emergencies. And why is Lakeview Hospital her hospital of choice?
“I trust them,” Maranda put it simply. “It’s the people who keep me here.”
Maranda lives in West Haven, Utah but happily makes the 30- to 40-minute drive to Lakeview Hospital for personal medical care as well as professional work. She says the hospital teams’ united efforts to provide compassionate care continue to win her over.
A hospital with a family-feel
“I feel like they’re family,” Maranda said. “I used to think it would feel like this in any hospital, but I’ve learned that isn’t true.”
Maranda began her medical career as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) at Lakeview in a medical/surgical unit. While attending nursing school, she gained broader clinical experience at different hospitals. That’s when she recognized the exceptional culture of compassion at Lakeview.
“I realized Lakeview is unique and decided that I only wanted to work here,” Maranda said.
Upon nursing school graduation, she served as a registered nurse on the Medical/Surgical Unit; now she cares for patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
From nurse to patient
Maranda recently welcomed her first child into the world at Lakeview Hospital — making this nurse a new mama and a patient. Although Maranda had never experienced the Labor & Delivery department at Lakeview, she felt right at home.
“The team talked me through everything, letting me know what was going on and teaching me each step of the way,” Maranda said. “I loved it there.”
The pleasant experience only lasted a couple days, but Maranda would return to Lakeview unexpectedly just weeks later.
“After having my baby, I had tons of stomach cramps, pain and bloating. At first, I thought I had an ulcer, but it kept getting worse. When I went to see my obstetrician for a 6-week post-partum appointment, he said it’s common after having a baby and rapidly losing weight to have gallbladders go bad,” Maranda said.
Maranda’s medical teams worked quickly to line up an ultrasound, blood work and HIDA scan of her gallbladder. Tell-tale signs of elevated white blood cells and liver enzymes, as well as a lack of bile production with fatty food consumption, confirmed that Maranda’s gallbladder needed immediate removal.
Compassionate care for each patient
“One of the first things my surgeon, Dr. Russell Todd, asked me was about my baby. He wanted to know if she could take a bottle when I had surgery. I felt like he — just like everyone at the hospital — looked out for my family as well as for me,” Maranda said.
That family feeling continued when Maranda woke from the laparoscopic gallbladder removal procedure in the very medical-surgical unit that she had worked in as a CNA and RN. In fact, it felt quite serendipitous as she realized the nurse who trained her would be the nurse at her bedside during her recovery.
“On so many levels, this is my family hospital,” Maranda said. “That’s why I say, ‘Take me to Lakeview Hospital for my work, for my family and for my health.’ I don’t want to go anywhere else.”