A New Tradition

SVMC Goes Big for Staff with First Employee Carnival

In the cool of Friday evening Sierra View Medical Center (SVMC) employees were not at a loss for things to do. The hospital threw their first employee carnival, which was open to employees and their families.

With the help of SVMC’s Employees Promoting Positive Engagement and Comradery (EPPEC) Team, the first annual carnival was packed with people who enjoyed all the new and exciting things the hospital has to offer.

From carnival games to live music and food, there was not a shortage of activities for those in attendance to participate in with their families.

Hot dogs were being served, as well as cotton candy and popcorn.

Six carnival games sat in the center of the event, and parents stood by as their children lined up at each. Small prizes were handed out to those who won games they participated in.

A rock climbing wall was set up toward the back of the designated carnival area, alongside a ride similar to a tilt-o-whirl. Some attendees enjoyed the live band while they ate at the provided tables. Others enjoyed a photo booth that snapped pictures which were immediately printed out as a souvenir to take home.

Opportunities to win a prize were abundant, and carnival goers were able to put their names into a prize drawing for large valuable prizes. Prizes such as a Chromebook, an Apple TV, a tool chest, a Char Broil Smoker and many gift cards were up for grabs.

Tracy Canales, the vice president for human resources and executive sponsor for the EPPEC Team, shed some light as to why the hospital decided to throw a carnival this year.

“We made a decision in the early part of the year that we wanted to rebrand our employee-oriented team. So we rebranded from the ACTION team to the EPPEC team,” said Canales.

“From that we were starting to take ideas of what employees like, and realizing that we were a 24-hour facility, we wanted to bring something that was more convenient for our employees. We’ve had off-site events, but we wanted to bring it here so it was easier for them to attend and just to try something new.”

SVMC is home to around 1,000 employees who spend a lot of time at work. The hospital used to prepare a holiday dinner for their staff, but this year decided to try something different.

Cindy Gomez, a lead on the EPPEC team, shared the motivation behind the change in event.

“We wanted to give something that the employees and their families could enjoy and something that was here on site just to show our appreciation,” said Gomez.

SVMC employees seemed excited to attend and some expressed their gratitude to the EPPEC Team for making the carnival happen.

“I think this fabulous and good for the family,” said Lisa Lopez, a switchboard operator for the hospital. Lopez was accompanied by her daughter, Gabrielle Lopez, and her mother, Millie Matthews.

The hospital hopes to keep this event going as an annual employee appreciation event, and the turnout to this year’s carnival was an encouraging outlook for the future.

“We are really pleased with the results,” said Gomez. “We had given out 1,300 tickets for this event for the first time, which is more than any other event by far.”

SVMC’s CEO, Donna Hefner, enjoyed seeing the families in attendance.

“We really enjoy the family side,” Hefner said. “We spend so much of our time here at work, and I tell the employees during town halls that we do spend half our time here at work. So just being able to see their families and just spend time with them is really exciting.”

SVCM staff is looking forward to the future of this event and giving back to the employees.

“The family environment, the welcoming environment, is really the culture we have at Sierra View, so we just want to foster that and keep building on it,” said Hefner.