Local firms donate pizza to VW Health staff

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

The medical staff at Van Wert Health and Van Wert Health North received a tangible — and edible — “thank you” on Thursday for all the hard work they have put in caring for local COVID-19 pandemic patients.

Local businesses Straley Realty and Keister & Baker Law Office partnered to provide approximately 100 pizzas to the Van Wert Health doctors, nurses, and other healthcare staff that have spent nearly a year fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pizzas from the Van Wert Pizza Hut were delivered to the day staff at Van Wert Health and the staff at Van Wert Health North during the lunch hour, while the night shift at Van Wert Health also received pizzas at approximately 10 p.m. Thursday.

Warren Straley of Straley Realty said Bob Miller, a Straley agent in Paulding, came up with the idea to thank healthcare workers at Paulding County Hospital for their work in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

“We thought it was a good idea and decided to do it here as well,” Staley said, adding that the attorneys at Keister & Baker also liked the idea and partnered with the realty firm to purchase the pizzas. “We know what it’s like, and it’s tough, and we just wanted to say ‘thank you’.”

Ellen Rager, director of marketing, communications, and community relations for Van Wert Health, said the pizza was much appreciated.

“We’re in the tenth month of dealing with the COVID pandemic, and I love the timing of this,” she noted. “This is really a great pick-me-up for our staff, let them know how appreciated they are, cause all the extra work it takes to care for patients in a global pandemic is astronomical.”

Rager added that, while the pandemic has been “awful” there have also been some positives to come out of the long months of hard work caring for COVID patients.

“Being surrounded by the community and all the notes we get and all the donations have been heart-warming,” she said.