This one is a good example of a botched job and a good recovery. You'll hear this all the time in the hotel industry. Something doesn't go right forthe customer's experience and they're mad. You do something above and beyond what they expect to make it better for them. All of the sudden, the fuming customer who was going to campaign against you is your best supporter. Enter viral marketing...

My mom was a patient of your hospital last month. She is 96 years old and I am her 73 year old daughter. Mom hated the food because your diet lady said she shouldn't have salt. So, I stopped at KFC and brought her dinner every night. I know your nurses said that she didn't have teeth when she was admitted, but I brought her teeth with me that first night and we kept them in the Styrofoam, KFC cup. So, someone threw away her teeth. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that you were willing to buy her new teeth, but I think it's important that your nurses and cleaning ladies check the KFC cups in the future. You never can tell when you'll find more teeth.

Connie P.

more fan mail for Windber. How do we get all of our patients to feel this way about our hospitals?

Dear Mr. Jacobs,

I graduated from nursing school 42 years ago and have watched with interest the changing health care environment of this area. It is amazing to me that, after 100 years, Windber Medical Center only continues to grow and get stronger at a time when other organizations your size are closing all around. My life has taken me to many different places, but this hospital is the most amazing hospital I have ever seen. It is gratifying to me that the very essence of Windber's Hospital has never really had to change. It has always strived to provide national and now international quality care. I am proud of this hospital, and proud of the wonderful people who work here who never quit providing the most friendly, warm and loving care possible. Our doctors are the best, and your employees simply can't be beat. Why would anyone want to go to any other hospital?

Keep up the great work.
Anne K.

as always, keep sending your great patient stories to me: tony[at]hospitalimapct[dot]org.

I'm doing this for the sake of better hospitals - we can learn from the mistakes as well as the successes. Read previous stories on string quartets & Surgeries, Christmas, Crayons, and Cramps, and Harry Potter, Hamburgers, and Hemmorroids, and nakedness.