Dillon Lane, left, and Twanna Washington receive their Awesome cards from Curtis Moore, supervisor of the Towne Park valet service at AMH. An AMH employee or physician can be nominated for an Awesome award by co-workers, patients or visitors.

ALTON, IL -- Most visitors to a hospital really would rather be someplace else. That makes it even more imperative for hospital employees to roll out the welcome mat. Nowhere is that done any better at Alton Memorial Hospital than at the free valet parking service offered at the Duncan Wing entrance.

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Twanna Washington and Dillon Lane provide awesome service to patients, families and employees alike. That awesome designation was validated when both Twanna and Dillon received nominations for Awesome awards just weeks after the Awesome program began last fall.

“Twanna is the most courteous and best-mannered person,” said Darlene Westmoreland, an AMH patient from Godfrey. “I’m not well, and I come up to Alton Memorial regularly for my blood work. Twanna knew my name each time after the first time. I drive up to the hospital sick and depressed, and after seeing and talking to her I’m not so sick, not depressed, and in fact I’m smiling. Other than the small tip I leave, I wish I could do more.”

The AMH valet service, operated by Towne Park, is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

“Twanna and her team are amazing at greeting patients and visitors with a warm welcome,” said Brad Goacher, VP of Operations at AMH. “They do a great job of remembering names and faces, often calling visitors from a month earlier by their name. A friendly face at valet means the world to so many of our patients and visitors.”

That’s a feeling not lost on Twanna.

“I might have something going on in my life, but I have to leave that aside when I go to work,” she said. “These people need a smiling face and a kind word when they’re arriving at the hospital.”

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Twanna and Dillon try to provide service over and above merely parking cars. They get all kinds of requests and do their best to accommodate.

“They might ask if they can leave their pet with us, or go get them a wheelchair,” Dillon said. “It’s all about service.”

Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays are the busiest days, with as many as 90 to 100 vehicles on some days. Cars are usually retrieved within less than a minute of the driver returning to the valet area, located on the circle drive side of the Duncan Wing entrance. If people come back to their car after valet closes at 5 p.m., the keys are left at Registration or Security.

Tips aren’t required or even expected, but the excellent service almost demands it.

“We have people insist on giving us a tip, and they won’t leave until we take it,” Twanna said. “But this is our job. We want to brighten their day a little.”

Awesome Cards

If you know of an AMH employee, physician or volunteer who deserves recognition, please let us know by completing an “Awesome” form. Forms are available in the hospital waiting areas and nurses stations. A member of the AMH leadership team will present your honoree with an “Awesome” badge sticker.

Completed forms may be dropped off at the information desk or sent to the AMH Development office. For more information, contact Marlene Lewis at 618-463-37701.

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