On Friday, Jan. 7, Chestnut Hill Hospital Nursing Director Julie Munger walked into work wearing her favorite gray Adidas sneakers. Her workday proceeded like most others until she received a phone call from a colleague in the social work department who was working to discharge a homeless patient to a local shelter. The patient, who had spent 12 days in the hospital, no longer had wearable shoes or socks and couldn’t be discharged without the proper attire. 

“My daughter plays professional basketball, so I keep a bag of her lightly used sneakers in my car and I keep spare socks in my office,” Ms. Munger said. “The social work team knows I have these items so they called to see if I could give a pair of shoes and socks to the patient.” 

Without hesitation Ms. Munger brought several pairs, all size 8.5, for the patient to try on. “She tried so hard to make the shoes fit but they were all too small. As we sat and talked, I asked her what size shoe she wore, and she shared that she was a size 10. She also told me she really liked my sneakers, which just happened to be a size 10.” Without hesitation Ms. Munger asked the patient if she wanted the sneakers she was wearing and the patient said ‘yes.’ “So, I took them off and gave them to her.” Fortunately for Julie, a nurse colleague let her borrow a pair of boots for the remainder of her shift to wear home that evening. 

“Julie’s selfless act of literally giving the shoes off her feet to an individual she had never met is a clear demonstration of her commitment to all the patients at our hospital and our community,” said Timothy Marks, CHH vice president and chief nursing officer. “In her office and the nursing units Julie oversees she has hung signs that read, ‘Always stay humble and kind.’ That guidance is something Julie continually follows when interacting with patients and colleagues and I admire that.”