[dropcap]T[/dropcap]o accomplish positive change, all it takes is for the right person to have the vision. In this case, the idea came after a health scare, when cancer survivor and Housekeeping Supervisor, Sandra Benjamin of Sandals Regency Golf, Resort and Spa, inspired by the company’s health and safety symposium held in November last year, saw the need for a second symposium focused only on health.
Hosted on Thursday, March 15, in the hotel’s conference room and a few designated hotel rooms, the symposium gave staff members the opportunity to do blood pressure tests as well as consult a dentist, a clinical psychologist, a general practitioner, nutrition officers, the bureau of health, a health coach and a herbalist, all free of charge.
When asked why it was she felt this to be an important initiative, Benjamin told the STAR, “What you find is that we have a lot of team members who are afraid to go see a doctor. They tell you, ‘I don’t have the time,’ or ‘I was at work,’ so we decided to bring the doctors in . . . and it is honestly a success.” Later, she revealed, “Because you see, what I went through, I do not want anybody else to go through. It was not an easy road . . . but I did put Jesus Christ first.”
The brilliance of Benjamin’s idea was recognized by Human Resource Manager Opal Francis and Environmental, Health and Safety Manager Emerson Vitalis who teamed up with Ms. Benjamin to bring the idea to life. Vitalis explained that the initiative is in alignment with the resort’s 2018 five-key themed mandate: “Show you care, do the right thing, celebrate success and differences, aim higher and working better together.” He told the STAR, “What happens, a lot of the departments will start on the other side, they would go to schools and do different things, showing they care, but she (Sandra Benjamin) is showing that we need to start at home.”
Strategically held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, in order to facilitate both morning-shift employees as well as afternoon staff with equal opportunity to receive check ups, the organisers were pleased to reveal that several employees, throughout various departments, had made good use of the opportunity. Vitalis mentioned, “We have a general practitioner there; she has seen almost 70 of the team members. More came in but 70 of them felt compelled to go to her.”
As a result of the symposium’s success, all parties involved hope to facilitate similar events every three months. Also, although the only initiative thus far to focus on internal staff, other departments, to observe Sandals Regency’s five-tier theme initiative, have extended aid in outreach projects like the “adopt a school” project, Vitalis informed.
Exuding gratitude, Benjamin would not end her interview with the STAR without thanking the resort. She insisted, “We must say thanks to the company, Sandals, because without them we would not be able to do it . . . They gave us the opportunity to bring everybody. So we would like to say thanks to Sandals.”
Also in a bout of appeciation, Vitalis echoed Benjamin when he added, “A lot of the ladies from her department are helping, so they’re out of work. And when you run a hotel, to be out of work is difficult, so giving us that time is incredible of them.”
