A dear addition: Rudy the world traveler keeps Brown Deer clinic connection strong
10/10/24 12:30:pm
From Sheboygan to Paris, a special new addition to the Brown Deer team travels far and wide while driving home an important message.
Fitting for Brown Deer, the brown deer Rudy is more than a stuffed animal. He’s become somewhat of a mascot.
“It's kind of like when your kids are little and they have that Flat Stanley that they can take pictures of and document along your travels,” says Sarah Siker, Brown Deer operations manager.
Short for Rudolf, Rudy has tagged along with clinic team members who have volunteered to travel for work, helping provide care at other Rogers sites throughout the state of Wisconsin and even across the country.
“It takes a lot for people to leave their life, friends, and family and stay in a hotel for an extended period of time,” Sarah says. “There's only a handful of people who travel, but our team members who stayed in Brown Deer also had to be flexible to cover things that they wouldn't normally because of those traveling. We wanted to find a way to celebrate everyone.”
You can see pictures of Rudy in the Brown Deer clinic newsletter in his travels to Sheboygan, Madison, and Atlanta.
“I want them to feel supported by us and feel our gratitude, because being willing to travel and to go to another clinic is kind of scary. It's out of your comfort zone,” Sarah says. “Hopefully having Rudy along was like bringing a little piece of comfort or a part of the Brown Deer clinic along with them.”
“I just got back from Paris, and having Rudy has helped me stay connected with Rogers while away,” says Becca, whose team earned the silver medal in the Paralympic games. “It was nice to have pictures of Rudy to send back to Rogers to keep them informed of our travels.”
“The work we do can be so heavy,” Sarah says. “Whatever we can do to bring some levity to the day I think is a win.”
