Connect

As she headed home from a long day at work last week, Katherine Basbaum, Clinical Dietitian, witnessed an act of kindness that made her do a double take. She was riding the bus back to her car when a stranger thanked her for taking care of patients during the coronavirus pandemic.

Katherine sent the following note to her team, recapping what she witnessed:

“This afternoon, I was riding the UVA Fontaine shuttle back to my car, and I was the only passenger. We were at a stoplight, and I was sitting in a window seat. I looked out to see a man in the car next to us to looking up at me and holding a little piece of paper out his window  that said ‘thank you.’

“It took me a second to realize what it meant, but I guess he saw me on the shuttle, knew I was a hospital worker, and wanted to show his thanks. I smiled at the man and then told Marvin my shuttle driver what had just happened. We were both tickled pink.”

The note of gratitude meant so much to Katherine that she wished her teammates were there to witness the sweet moment.

“Of course, it felt really nice,” she says, “but I was also a little sad that I was the only one to receive his message on the bus since I’m 100% sure it was meant for all of us at UVA Health.”

Now, that the story is on Connect, many more team members can get the message. Thank you for sharing, Katherine, and thank you to everyone for doing your part – we appreciate you!

Katherine is a dietitian for inpatient and outpatient cardiology patients on the fourth floor.