Atrium Health Floyd Plant Facilities Teammates Work Holiday Magic
ROME, Ga., Nov. 27, 2024 – It's not fancy or shiny – at least not in daylight hours, but when the assembly of about 70 feet of conduit and 64 feet of LED rope lighting raised into place and connected to power, the result is magical, calling to mind John Henry Hopkins' familiar words:
O Star of Wonder, Star of Night,
Star with Royal Beauty bright,
Westward leading,
Still proceeding,
Guide us to Thy perfect Light.
For more than 50 years, a 5-foot-tall and wide silver star outlined in lights was raised and illuminated atop Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center, heralding the arrival of the holiday season in Rome and Floyd County.
Throughout her childhood and into adulthood, that star symbolized the beginning of the holiday season for Joy Wyatt Jones, founder of community hospice care in the area and former director of Atrium Health Floyd Heyman Hospice. Joy, daughter of locally renown physicians Drs. C.J. and Barbara Wyatt, and her family lived atop a hill in South Rome, and she had a perfect view of the star from her second-floor bedroom window.
“My memory is with my dad, looking at that star while he told me a story about a little girl," Jones said. “It was kind of our ritual at Christmastime. At night, before I went to bed, we would look out at the star."
As she grew older, Jones said the star became the first thing she noticed at Christmas, a reminder of a happy childhood, and later, it served as the backdrop for the annual Heyman Hospice Love Light tree.
This year, a new, larger, brighter star is replacing the original galvanized metal icon Jones remembers.
When Neil Gordon and Chuck Youngblood, both teammates in the Atrium Health Floyd Plant Facilities department, prepared to raise the star last year, they realized a new process and new star was needed.
As it was designed, the original star was only visible in one direction and putting it in place required a hair-raising balancing act. Together, Gordon and Youngblood brainstormed a better star with a safer installation process. Working with mostly existing materials in the shop, Plant Facilities teammates crafted an 8-foot by 8-foot star from conduit, then outlined it on both sides with LED rope lighting. They replaced the old “lift it into place" method by engineering a drill-operated worm-drive trolley system that can raise and lower the star to its highest point.
Their creativity brought Atrium Health Floyd's iconic star back to life. This is emblematic of the work that is done every day in Plant Facilities as our teammates labor behind the scenes to keep all the key operating systems of our hospitals maintained and going. When they get the chance to do something added like this, they always respond to the call.
No one had to tell Jones her beloved star would once again be visible in the night sky. She saw it glowing during its test run, and just as the old carol proclaims, it is a star of wonder and beauty bright, leading and guiding our community to a place where there is health, hope and healing – for all.
About Atrium Health Floyd
The Atrium Health Floyd family of health care services is a leading medical provider and economic force in northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd is part of Charlotte, North Carolina-based Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Floyd strategically combined with Harbin Clinic in 2024 and employs more than 5,200 teammates who provide care in over 40 medical specialties at four facilities: Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center – a 361-bed full-service, acute care hospital and regional referral center in Rome, Georgia; Atrium Health Floyd Polk Medical Center in Cedartown, Georgia; and Atrium Health Floyd Cherokee Medical Center in Centre, Alabama; and Atrium Health Floyd Medical Center Behavioral Health, also in Rome. Together, Atrium Health Floyd and Harbin Clinic provide primary care, specialty care and urgent care throughout northwest Georgia and northeast Alabama. Atrium Health Floyd also operates a stand-alone emergency department in Chattooga County, the first such facility to be built from the ground-up in Georgia.
About Atrium Health
Atrium Health is a nationally recognized leader in shaping health outcomes through innovative research, education and compassionate patient care. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Atrium Health is part of Advocate Health, the third-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, which was created from the combination with Advocate Aurora Health. A recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research, Wake Forest University School of Medicine is its academic core. Atrium Health is renowned for its top-ranked pediatric, cancer and heart care, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Atrium Health is also a leading-edge innovator in virtual care and mobile medicine, providing care close to home and in the home. Ranked nationally among U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals in eight pediatric specialties and for rehabilitation, Atrium Health has also received the American Hospital Association's Quest for Quality Prize and its 2021 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care Award, as well as the 2020 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Equity Award for its efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in care. With a commitment to every community it serves, Atrium Health seeks to improve health, elevate hope and advance healing – for all, providing $2.8 billion last year in free and uncompensated care and other community benefits.
About Advocate Health
Advocate Health is the third-largest nonprofit integrated health system in the United States – created from the combination of Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health. Providing care under the names Advocate Health Care in Illinois, Atrium Health in the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama, and Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, Advocate Health is a national leader in clinical innovation, health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Advocate Health services nearly 6 million patients and is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, with Wake Forest University School of Medicine serving as the academic core of the enterprise. It is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, pediatrics and rehabilitation, as well as organ transplants, burn treatments and specialized musculoskeletal programs. Advocate Health employs 155,000 teammates across 69 hospitals and over 1,000 care locations, and offers one of the nation's largest graduate medical education programs with over 2,000 residents and fellows across more than 200 programs. Committed to providing equitable care for all, Advocate Health provides nearly $6 billion in annual community benefits.