Heritage Snapshot: Part 140

First employed at Loma Linda University Medical Center in 1976, George Burg had the simple gift for making people feel good. He had the ability to make visitors and patients feel welcome and at ease and at the same time kept traffic flowing smoothly around the circular drive at the main entrance. Many of his contacts needed assistance in and out of their vehicles. Some needed wheelchairs and an escort into the lobby. All got a friendly smile, a feeling which invariably translated into goodwill toward the institution. Philanthropists made donations to the International Heart Institute and the Cancer Institute in his honor. George could make people chuckle with a little joke—even if they’d heard him tell it before. His deadpan delivery, songs, and small-talk warmed people’s heavy hearts as they headed for chemotherapy, blood tests, or medical check-ups. “Some people just need somebody to talk to,” George used to say. “We’re all part of the same human family.” In high school George sang duets with a young woman who eventually became a singer with the Metropolitan Opera. When George broke into song it was usually a simple little ditty that tells a funny story. He acquired this talent on a weekly program he conducted years ago as an aspiring cowboy singer on a start-up radio station in Eureka, California. George was a schoolteacher in Northern California and Hawaii for 16 years. He liked to remember that one of his first grade students in Hawaii eventually graduated from LLU School of Medicine. George moved to Southern California because his wife, Dorothy, a voice teacher, had been a Loma Linda girl. She wanted to be back in the area. Meanwhile, he was affectionately called “Mr. Loma Linda,” and “Mr. Customer Service.” As “the man in the funny hat,” he looked like a state trooper. He could greet people in a dozen different languages. One of his ardent admirers was Desmond T. Doss, a World War II winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor. At an Employee Forum (February 18, 2004) an announcement was made of his winning the Good Samaritan Award. The entire audience spontaneously erupted into a standing ovation. A feature story regarding Mr. Burg’s receiving the award acknowledged his taking time to encourage every person who passed his way. Those who spent any time with him were distracted from their problems, and their attention diverted, for the moment, from other weighty concerns. Most people found themselves leaving Mr. Burg with a smile on their face, a renewal of their spirit, and the courage to press on in their heavy steps. No matter what the diversion, Mr. Burg brought patients and guests comfort. From the very moment they arrived at the front doors, both patients and guests knew that someone had noticed them and cared. In 1998 Mr. Burg was recognized as a semi-finalist by the California Task Force for Older Workers. As such, he went to Sacramento and received an award signed by California Governor Pete Wilson. Joseph Vernon Reed, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, sent George a pair of special cuff links and a pin from the United Nations. Dr. Lyn Behrens, at the time President of the Medical Center, greatly appreciated George. She wrote to him: “I have received a wonderful letter from one of our visitors who has, through the years, found you to be a very special employee. I wanted to let you know I am grateful for the manner in which you exemplify Christ’s caring for others, many of whom are in need or distress. “You are the first representative of this institution that many of our visitors meet and through you they establish their first impression of Loma Linda as a whole. You assist many patients and their families, helping their arrival or departure to be as smooth as possible. “Your many acts of kindness are not unnoticed. Thank you again for being such an ambassador of the Medical Center.” Once an Employee of the Month, in 1990 George became an “Employee of the Year.” He was reticent to tell his exact age, but he did admit to being the father of four adult children and to having been married for more than 50 years. In 1987, George considered taking “early retirement.” Within hours, Lynn Fiedler, an administrative secretary, hastily organized a petition to be signed by 2 p.m. that same day (April 15). Addressed to members of the George Fan Club, it read: “George, Our Hospitality Man, is contemplating early retirement. The LLUMC front entrance would never be the same without our George. We the following PROTEST….” Medical Center employees—498 of them—signed. Among them were department heads and administrators. In addition to signing their names, some wrote personal messages: “You can never retire. You are too valuable to us.” The 498 signatures were written on 37 pages. When other employees heard about the petition, they declared that they would have also signed, had they known about it. In Aug. 2005, George suffered a prolonged illness that prevented him from working. In response, employees, moved by their admiration and appreciation, sent messages expressing their feelings. And to illustrate his popularity, during several months of recovery, appreciative fellow employees throughout the Medical Center donated 200 hours from their paid leave banks to help supplement George’s income. One young cancer patient told the hospital staff, “I want George’s job so that I can make people happy.”