Donation supports H2O Wellness Partners Program
The H2O Wellness Partners Program is designed to strengthen mental health support and wellness resources across USA Health by training employees to serve as approachable contacts.
By Michelle Ryan-Day
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A recent donation to the USA Health Department of Spiritual Health and Counseling will help strengthen employee wellness initiatives across the health system through the H2O Wellness Partners Program.
The gift, made in memory of Mary Elizabeth Lipke Rodning, M.A., in honor of Kai Johannes Rodning, M.D., and in honor of Brooks Pitman Milling, J.D., was presented by Charles Bernard Rodning, M.D., Ph.D., professor emeritus in the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama.
The donation will help provide pins and magnets that identify H2O Wellness Partners throughout the organization, said Kim Crawford Meeks, M.Div., B.C.C., spiritual health and counseling manager at USA Health.
"These donations allow us to purchase pins and magnets so that employees will be able to identify a Wellness Partner," Crawford Meeks said. "Employees knowing who to turn to for support is vital when they are feeling overwhelmed."
The H2O Wellness Partners Program is designed to strengthen mental health support and wellness resources across USA Health by training employees to serve as approachable contacts who can connect colleagues with wellness tools, mental health resources and support services.
Wellness partners also receive suicide prevention training following the QPR — which stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer model, an internationally recognized, evidence-based program designed to teach everyday people how to recognize warning signs and intervene in a mental health crisis. It is often described as the “CPR of mental health.”
"Our goal is to support the whole person: physical, spiritual, and emotional," Crawford Meeks said. "Having Wellness Partners is another extension of our spiritual and emotional support and education to reach all employees beyond nursing."
The program complements REACH — Reaching Out to Offer Hope and Receive Hope — an initiative that equips employees with skills to recognize distress, respond compassionately and build healthy coping strategies.
"We want all employees to know how to listen and to refer, and that no one here is alone," Crawford Meeks said. "We are a team working together to provide holistic support for one another and our patients."