From our family to yours

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[An important part of a patient's hospital experience is their perception of how they were treated during their stay. Providing a personal touch in the health care setting goes a long way toward patient satisfaction.

At Red Bud Regional Hospital, patients feel just like family - perhaps because many family members work together on the tight-knit hospital staff. More than 40 Red Bud Regional employees are related, including a husband-and-wife emergency room team.

Julie Kelley, M.D., an ER physician, and John Kelley, RN, an ER Nurse, have worked together at Red Bud Regional since 2008, but this isn't the first time that they shared a career in healthcare.

The couple met at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1997. John was working as a telemetry nurse and Julie was a family practice resident in the U.S. Air Force. The two became friends, working together both on the job and volunteering for local community causes.

"John and I worked a big event together in downtown Omaha for our church where John had volunteered us to work on the medical team. He volunteered us as the trash team, too," Julie states. John and Julie were married in 1999.

Today, the Kelleys are on the same team again, and while their reasons for entering the health care field were different, they share a mutual passion for caring for others. Julie's desire to be a doctor began in childhood. While in medical school at University of Washington, she gravitated toward family practice because it enabled her to touch all aspects of health care. After completing her residency, teaching at Scott Air Force Base, becoming a Major in the U.S. Air Force, and having two children, Julie wanted a career that would allow her the flexibility to pursue her professional interests and balance quality time with her children.

John, on the other hand, saw nursing as a universal need in health care. As an occupation, nursing offered the chance to make a difference, as well as the flexibility to live and work in virtually any area of the country. As an ER nurse, John provides direct patient care, including cardiac, but he also works as house supervisor. John remembers the days in Omaha where he and Julie worked in dual roles as both medical and on trash detail.

Good communication and teamwork are necessary to balance the Kelleys' diverse responsibilities not only on the job, but also at home. Julie and John often plan their schedules to work opposite shifts so that one parent can be at home with their three children, Megan, 17, Erin, 9, and Travis, 7.

If you're looking for comprehensive care for you and your loved ones, get to know the family at Red Bud Regional. To learn more about Hospital services, visit them on the Web at redbudregional.com