Susan Osborne's Story
A patient family at Children’s inspires employee giving
Susan Osborne, with her daughter, McKenna, called the care they received at Children’s “exceptional.” All staff and leaders “were there for the right reason—to make a difference in the lives of the children and their families.”
In Susan Osborne's current position as vice president of service excellence at a local hospital, she is in charge of ensuring a positive experience for patients. To do this, Susan draws not only on her prior work at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta from 1997 to 2004 as director of critical care and inpatient units, but also from her own firsthand knowledge of being part of a patient family.
Susan's daughter, McKenna, was hospitalized three times at Children’s-once when she was six and twice when she was 17. "We are so fortunate to have Children’s in our community for our kids," Susan said. "Not only did I have the opportunity to work there, the care we received was exceptional."
Susan fondly remembers her time at Children’s. "I worked with incredible staff, physicians and leaders. I saw miracles happen in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Our staff touched these families' lives and made a huge difference. The physicians were very caring for the staff and patients."
Susan and her husband, Jeff, met with an attorney in 2007 and made the decision to include Children’s in their will. When asked why she wanted to put her former employer in her estate plans, Susan said, "I wanted to give back to the organization that I felt gave so much to me."