Monarch 2023 Specialty Hospital Award Recipient

Commitment and Compassion

The Registered Dietitian probably isn’t the first role that comes to mind as one of the most pivotal in all aspects of a medically complex patient’s care.

However, as Jade Moore of Kindred Hospital Chattanooga demonstrates with excellence every day, the input and expertise of the Registered Dietitian are always essential ingredients in ScionHealth’s specialty hospitals.

Through her work in developing diet plans that consider patients’ complex physical challenges, dietary restrictions and recovery goals, leaders at Kindred Hospital Chattanooga say Moore has distinguished herself as a critical member of the interdisciplinary care team.

In fact, she has distinguished herself among all caregivers at ScionHealth. 

Moore is the 2023 specialty hospitals recipient of ScionHealth’s Monarch Caring and Community Award, the highest honor the company presents to professionals who work in its 102 specialty hospitals, community hospitals and senior living communities.

“We are so proud to have Jade representing us and the company,” White said. “She is so deserving. I can’t think of a more committed and compassionate person on our team than Jade. She’s a dietitian, and I think it’s probably rare for an award like this to go to someone in her field, but I think it’s wonderful because she touches the whole continuum of patient care in what she does. She works with every single part of our team to help our patients with their recovery.”

Moore was selected from among 86 nominees within ScionHealth, which has approximately 25,000 total employees nationwide, operates facilities in 28 states, and is the nation’s largest provider of specialty long-term acute hospital care. She received the award on Sept. 20 during the closing event of the ScionHealth Caregiver Summit in Louisville, which is the location of the company’s corporate headquarters. 

"I would put her up against anyone..."

Moore said she was honored and “kind of taken aback” just to be nominated for the Monarch Award and invited to the Summit.

“I do consider myself to be dedicated,” she said. “I like my job very much, and I hope that shows.”

White said she was not too surprised to learn that Moore had won the Monarch Award.

“We all think she is that incredible,” White said. “I don’t think we could have better a registered dietitian. I would put her up against anyone in the country, that’s for sure.” 

Moore is responsible for developing and managing diet plans at Kindred Hospital Chattanooga, a 49-bed long-term acute care hospital that provides in-depth care to patients who may require weeks or months to recover from serious illness, injury or medical conditions, including respiratory failure, stroke, heart attack, sepsis, severe COVID-19, complex wounds and traumatic brain injuries.

Many of Moore’s patients are unable to swallow food or can only eat food of a certain texture, and many require feeding tubes.   

Moore is an invaluable member of the care team, White said, working hand in hand with other specialists.

Examples include her working closely with speech-language pathologists (as patients relearn to swallow) and the wound care team (to ensure patients receive sufficient protein and calories to support skin healing). In addition, she ensures that patients have eaten enough to have the energy to participate in physical and occupational therapy, and she keeps close tabs on the foods going to patients with heart and kidney conditions.

She also collaborates with pharmacy staff to feed patients who are receiving total parental nutrition (TPN) via an IV.

“Our ability to provide optimal nutrition to our patients is critical,” White said. “Not only is it providing physical benefits to help mobilize them quicker and to help heal their wounds, but it also provides psychological comfort. We all feel better when we can eat. (Jade) collaborates with the team and genuinely listens to all our families, and she takes their concerns, their food preferences into consideration, and she tailors a plan for them that (involves) every other department in the building.

“From a global perspective, she is one of the most knowledgeable people in the building about every single patient. … If you ask a question about a patient, Jade knows everything about that patient.”

From Intern to Lead Clinical Dietitian

Moore, who holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a master’s from the University of Alabama, was hired as the lead clinical dietitian at Kindred Hospital Chattanooga in 2015 after previously serving – and immediately impressing – as an intern there.

The internship introduced Moore to the work of clinical dietitians in long-term acute care settings. She could have pursued many other careers in dietetics in much different settings, including those with a focus on weight loss, but she said she was drawn to the opportunity at Kindred Hospital of “helping people during a time of need when they can’t help themselves.”

“I thought it would be a very interesting and rewarding job, and I was right,” she said.

In the years since, she has continued to earn the respect and admiration of her patients, coworkers and managers for her compassionate bedside manner, and helpfulness as a teammate.

Moore tries to keep things light-hearted as she discusses serious issues with patients and staff, and White said she has a great sense of humor. Moore noted that she has developed a reputation around the hospital for always bringing up and asking about patients’ bowel movements in meetings. In reality, it’s a key indicator of whether a patient is digesting food properly, so it only makes sense that it’s often on the clinical dietitian’s mind.

“What goes in must come out, right?” Moore said with a laugh.

Moore said she is grateful for the role she plays on the Kindred Hospital Chattanooga team and is inspired by the patient recoveries she has witnessed.

“It’s the best feeling to see those people walk out the door knowing that when they came in they couldn’t eat for themselves, they couldn’t breathe on their own, they could have never gotten themselves up,” she said. “Every discipline plays a huge role in that, and that’s a very gratifying feeling.”