OHIO – The owners of Spirit Medical Transport, LLC, didn’t let
COVID-19 dampen the spirits of the company’s annual Christmas party
recently. In fact, they took the party to new heights.
As
employees and their families gathered virtually and in their own cars
for a drive-in style Christmas party, owners Brian K. Hathaway and Aaron
Guthrie made a phone call to Santa himself and asked if he could fly to
the Christmas party. Within minutes of saying he would, spectators at
the drive-in event watched the sky as Santa came in for a landing on the
racetrack of the Darke County Fairgrounds aboard a helicopter
exclaiming, “Merry Christmas everyone…Merry Christmas.”
“What will these guys do next?” asked one employee who was in awe over Santa arriving in a helicopter.
“Just
wait and see what the evening has in store,” replied Hathaway, who
reports every employee and guest attending, whether virtually or at the
drive-in, was served a home-cooked meal prepared by his wife and
daughter, Audrey and Naomi Hathaway. Virtual attendees were personally
delivered the home-cooked meal, wrapped packages for their kids, gift
cards, and awards they were to receive by Santa’s elves, the management
team of Spirit Medical Transport.
The evening started out with a
moment of silence in remembrance of one of their former employees, Jack
Rader, who died earlier this year. Rader’s name and photo has been added
to the back of the Spirit memorial ambulance, which bears the names of
three other former Spirit employees and supporter from years past.
It
was then that Hathaway and Guthrie began reflecting on the past year
and its many ups and downs, given shutdowns, and then an increasing
number of people who have been affected by the virus. Despite a drastic
reduction in calls for the year overall, the company was able to
maintain its employee base and avoid layoffs. The owners applauded their
employees and the families who supported one another during the
challenging year.
“Our employees and their families have remained
strong, and we want to show our investment in each of you for the
dedication you have shown,” Guthrie explained. “Our employees are the
backbone of our business, and we want to equip you with the Best of the
Best anytime we can.”
Hathaway echoed Guthrie’s comments, saying
the financial partnership the company has with Greenville Federal
continues to grow, which enabled them to make more purchases in 2020
that will benefit not only the employees, but the patients and various
organizations the company serves throughout western Ohio and eastern
portions of Indiana.
As employees stood with their families in
front of their cars and others watched live from the comfort of their
own homes, Hathaway and Guthrie began what has become the yearly
Christmas reveal.
Hathaway explained two of the Christmas presents
this year came a few months early, when two small passenger buses were
delivered in September that are used primarily to transport local
students to/from classes for various county school districts.
When
it was all said and done though, those attending saw the reveal of one
new 2020 Dodge caravan; three new 2020 Dodge wheelchair vans; four fully
stocked 2020 Ford Transit Medix ambulances; two fully stocked 2021 Ford
E-350 Medix box ambulances; four new Ferno Power X1 cots; one Ferno iNX
power load stretcher with the new bariatric component capable of
lifting patients up to 1,100 pounds; 10 brand new Lifepak 15 cardiac
monitors with various specialized components; six brand new Toughbook
computers; and one Hercules 6000 automatic car wash.
“Over the
past three years as a company we have made a significant investment into
having one of the best fleet of vehicles on the road,” Hathaway
explained. “To save our employees precious time from having to hand wash
their new vehicles at the end of their shift, they will now be able to
have it washed from top to bottom in a matter of minutes, thanks to the
new automatic wash system we have purchased.”
The owners also
expressed the gratitude they have of the facilities they serve, and
announced they have 78 facilities on a waiting list wanting the services
Spirit offers, but simply don’t have the personnel to meet the growing
demand.
“We aren’t going to over promise and under deliver to the
facilities and patients we’ve already committed to,” Hathaway explained.
“As owners, we are as committed to you as you are to us…so one final
gift we have to offer going into 2021…not only are we looking at an
across the board benefits restructure that will be financially intuitive
to each of you as employees, we will also continue awarding our monthly
raises of five-cents per hour to full time employees who report to work
when scheduled, on time, and have no disciplinary issues. So, just for
coming to work and doing a great job, you’ll be making 60 more cents on
the hour come next January just for coming to work on time and providing
great service to our patients and customers.” Again, a great big
applause was given.
“Merry Christmas to each of you and your
families,” Guthrie concluded. “This has been an amazing year, and we
couldn’t have done it without all of you. Let’s now go out and celebrate
another great year of success.”
The evening concluded with a toast of sparkling grape juice boasting for a prosperous 2021.
Only
five company employees, two of which are Hathaway’s parents, knew about
this past weekend’s big surprise. Hathaway said he and the other five
spent countless hours stocking each of the six ambulances and four vans
to make sure they were road ready to begin serving those in the
geographical area Spirit covers.
The company would like to thank
the following companies and individuals for all of their support in
making the Christmas surprise possible:
Penn Care – Mike Bowman, Tyler Keeley, and Tara Savon
Freedom Motors- Kevin Barnes
Greenville Federal – Nick Good, Tina Jones, Jeff Knise, and Members of the Bank Board
Ferno – Bill Chrisovergis
Stryker – Pete Landry and Alan Waters
Ohio Signs – Brian Reeser
Ohio Department of Public Safety, Inspector – Adam Blake, Medical Transportation Director – David Fiffick
A-OK Fire Protection-Tyler Edwards
Peck Sound Systems – Greg Peck
Henry Schein EMS – Scott Bruner
Four-U-Office Supply – Taylor Uhlenhake
Bruner Advertising – Rick Bruner
Hercules Systems, Inc. - Robert Mann
JP Mohler, LLC – Justin Mohler and Kalen Swan
Agri Air – Charles Zimmer for piloting Santa to the party
Santa’s Helper – Gary Moore
Assured Partners – Sharon Holland
Tim Clopp Photography
The Darke County Agricultural Society for the use of the buildings to hide all ten vehicles
Cynthia Bruner
Darleen Wilcox
Aaron Guthrie
Brian K. Hathaway
Ault, Henderson & Lewis - Dave Snider
John & Deb Hathaway
Audrey & Naomi Hathaway
Carol Hathaway
Steve Garrison
Spirit
Medical Transport, LLC, employs over 100 people and serves western Ohio
and eastern Indiana with stations in Greenville, Celina, Van Wert,
Sidney, and Liberty, Indiana.