The heat said “summer,” but it seemed a lot like Christmas this week as Floyd Medical Center staff members pulled stuffed bear after stuffed bear from four bundled sacks.

“Ooh, look at this one!” exclaimed Patsy Wade, Patient Advocate, as she pulled a bright blue fleece bear from the stack.

“That one looks like it might have been made from a man’s shirt,” said Tracy Farmer, director of the Floyd Outpatient Surgery Center, after someone handed her a striped creation with a matching ribbon around his neck.

Members of West Rome United Methodist Church played Santa Claus in August as they handed out 50 carefully crafted, hand-sewn bears to representatives of Floyd Healthcare Foundation, Laboratory Services, the Emergency Care Center, Emergency Medical Services, Surgical Services and Outpatient Surgery.



Click here for a previous story about the Prayer Bears.



The bears will be incorporated into Floyd Medical Center’s Blankets of Love program. Blankets of Love, and now Prayer Bears, are handcrafted quilts, blankets and afghans that are donated by needle artists in the community and given to patients who may need an extra degree of comfort while receiving medical care.

The blankets and bears are tools that open hearts, make difficult conversations a little easier and provide something tangible for our patients and their families to hold on to, said Tim Adams, RN, Coordinator of Palliative Care.

Floyd employee Linda Wilhelm is the originator of the Blankets of Love program, and regularly contributes lap-sized quilts to the hospital’s blanket chest.

“I don’t have a clinical background,” Wilhelm said, “but volunteering to make quilts helps me feel like I can contribute to the care of our patients and help them feel that we all work together to care about them, not just for them. I’m so glad Blankets of Love is there for me to give to.”

There is a shortage of quilts, blankets and afghans, and the need for them has never been greater, said Amy Astin, Director of Volunteer Services and coordinator for the Blankets of Love program.

If you or someone you know is excellent at quilting, knitting or crocheting and is willing to donate beautiful, handcrafted blankets and quilts, we could use those talents.