E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES! Here at Temple Health, we know that many of our employees and patients are huge Birds fans, which is why our TUH-Episcopal Campus team members went above and beyond to throw NFC Championship and Super Bowl parties for our Behavioral Health units.
“Our patients were really surprised and grateful,” Behavioral Health Therapist Alicia Brodersohn says of the NFC Championship party. “We brought in pizza for everyone, and watched the Eagles do a great job against the Commanders.”
Then, two weeks later, she and Nina Guy and Jean Francois Feristin—the two other weekend Behavioral Health Therapists—repeated the experience for the Super Bowl. Once again, patients weren’t expecting a party: “They thought that, since we’d done something for the last game, they were like, ‘Oh, you aren’t going to do it again,’” Guy says. “So when we told them, ‘No, we’re actually going to have a pizza party for you guys,’ they weren’t expecting it. I can’t tell you how many times each person said ‘thank you’ throughout the evening.”
Before the party, the Behavioral Health Therapists went out of their way to create a festive atmosphere. “I went online and printed as many different Eagles helmets and logos as I could,” Guy explains. “I let the patients color them, and also make their own art so they could feel included. That way, it wasn’t like, ‘This is something I’m putting up for you.’ It was, ‘Hey, I’m going to let you do your own thing.’”
Many of the patients were also excited to engage with the game itself. “A lot of the C4 unit is familiar with Eagles players like Jalen Hurts,” Feristin says. “They know the positions. They talk about the plays.”
Surprisingly, while this is the heart of Eagles territory, there are Kansas City Chiefs fans in the hospital—but fortunately, there was no tension at the party itself. “We have one die-hard Chiefs fan, but he stayed true to his team in a room full of Eagles fans, and all he said was, ‘Oh well, my team lost,’” Guy says.
In the end, regardless of who everyone was rooting for, it was still a celebration to remember. “Our patients see anything new and different as a reward,” Feristin says. “It reminds them of home.”
“Everyone was delighted,” Brodersohn agrees. “They were so grateful to have some pizza, to watch some football, to talk about it, and to cheer together.”
And the celebratory mood is still in full force at Episcopal. “To this day, our patients are still talking about the Super Bowl and saying, ‘Go Birds,’” Feristin laughs. “That’s their favorite thing.”
