Dignity Health hospitals reach 62 local schools during kindness challenge

The Great Kindness Challenge swept through schools across the nation last week that challenges elementary, middle and high school students to complete at least 50 acts of kindness in one week. In support of this effort locally, Dignity Health hospitals St. Bernardine Medical Center and Community Hospital of San Bernardino partnered with the San Bernardino City Unified School District and Diocese of San Bernardino to spread the message of kindness to 37,000 students.

On Wednesday, Jan. 25 Dignity Health personnel paid a visit to third- and fourth-graders at Holy Rosary Academy. Hospital physicians and staff led students in a teddy bear clinic to demonstrate the importance of showing kindness to patients and each other.

In addition to performing “checkups” on little stuffed teddy bears, students also created get well cards for hospital patients.

“The challenge sometimes is showing kindness,” said Dr. Victor Waters, MD Chief Medical Officer, St. Bernardine Medical Center. “At Dignity Health this is what we do, we show human kindness, and to foster a ripple effect of kindness is what we are committed to doing in the community.”

Dignity Health, which has been the presenting sponsor of the Great Kindness Challenge for the fourth year, sponsors 196 schools in Southern California, which translates to 130,000 students.

“These outreach efforts set the tone for Dignity Health,” said Dan Murphy, Dignity Health Vice President of Philanthropy. “This event with the students promotes kindness with each other and the community, and it also shows them that the work we do in healing is kindness.”

On Thursday Dignity Health – Community Hospital of San Bernardino hosted a Kindness Mini Medical School with Lincoln Elementary School fifth grade students who had the opportunity to learn about specific hospital specialties including radiology and nursing, as hospital employees and physicians discuss the role that kindness has played in their careers, successes and lives.

This is the third year Community Hospital has participated in the event, helping students accomplish many of the kind acts they worked to complete during the week.