Health Care Heroes: South Shore Ambassadors

COVID-19 has turned everyday citizens into a new crew of superheroes. At Aurora St. Luke’s South Shore, The Ambassadors fight on the front lines to keep team members and visitors safe.

As it so often happens, this group was born out of necessity. South Shore faced a shortage of screeners needed to take the temperatures of all entrants to the building, provide masks and ask about potential COVID-19 exposure to each of our patients, visitors and vendors. This summer, more than a dozen of these positions were filled for three separate shifts around the clock, seven days a week.

Beyond all of this, the screeners’ faces are the first thing patients see when they enter the hospital. They greet patients, guide them on where to go and keep visitors and team members safe and sound.

“’Ambassador’ is really my affectionate term to make sure our screeners know that they really have an important role,” said Ann Briscoe, director of rehabilitation services. “They really impact the positivity of a patient’s or team member’s day.”

Currently, the ambassador role is a temporary position which has drawn many college students looking to get started with clinical and non-clinical careers in health care.

“I feel as though I am really making a difference in the fight against COVID. This position makes me feel essential, because I am making a difference in my community,” said Hunter Rokenbrodt, a screener and junior studying information technology at UW-Stout.

“Since starting here in July, I have found a new level of responsibility to everyone that walks through the doors at South Shore to keep our environment safe,” said fellow screener Andeja Adams.

South Shore has plans to extend the role as needed into the fall, with student screeners heading back to class and positive COVID cases still prevalent.

“The Ambassadors are a fun group of people who all have a strong interest in health care,” said Briscoe. “The team is dedicated to their role, very enthusiastic and inspired to keep us safe.”