Recognizing Hospital Week: 7 Ideas for Your Facility (2025)
The U.S. has over 6,000 hospitals and healthcare systems that continuously work to deliver essential patient care. National hospital week was established to recognize these efforts and highlight the innovative ways that hospitals support the community everyday.
Participating in this national observance is a great way to connect with the public and celebrate the hard work of your staff. In this article, we’ll outline seven ways that you can get more involved in this annual event.
What Is National Hospital Week (2025)?
This week-long, national observance was established to highlight the hard work of hospitals and healthcare workers. Each year, the week is assigned a theme that healthcare administrators are encouraged to plan their celebratory activities around. The theme for 2025 is “America’s Hospitals: A Symphony of Compassionate Care,” which spotlights the critical role that every healthcare worker has in furthering quality care.
When Is Hospital Week 2025?
This annual event takes place on the same week as Florence Nightingale’s birthday, and runs from May 11th to May 17th in 2025. National hospital week was initially established as a single-day observance by the American Hospital Association (AHA) in 1921. However, it was later extended to a week-long observance in 1953.
7 Hospital Week Ideas for Your Facility
To align with this year’s theme, it’s important to find ways to make your staff feel recognized and valued. Here are seven ideas that can help you bring your community together and celebrate throughout the week.
1. Spotlight Teams and Providers Across Your Facility
To kick off the week, start by spotlighting both the individual and team efforts of your staff. Write up specific stories of how your staff have helped transform patient care and highlight these on your website, social media accounts, or in staff newsletters.
You can even consider recording interviews with staff and creating narrative videos to post online as well. Just remember to adhere to HIPAA guidelines when referring to stories about patients.
2. Organize Wellness Activities for Your Healthcare Staff
One of the best ways to celebrate the hard work of your staff is to support their mental health and wellbeing. As you applaud your staff’s daily efforts to care for patients, encourage them to care for themselves as well — and provide resources that allow them to do so.
Wellness can be promoted in a number of ways. Consider setting up free massage or pet therapy stations that your staff can enjoy throughout the week. You can also remind your staff of long-term resources available to them, such as employee assistance programs or employer-funded counseling sessions.
3. Invite Your Staff to a Team-Building Community Service Event
This week is all about highlighting the impact that hospitals have on the greater community. You can reinforce your commitment to public engagement by organizing a community service event and inviting your staff to participate in it.
For example, you can offer free community health screenings or partner with local shelters to deliver care to underserved populations. Encouraging staff participation can help strengthen your team’s bond while demonstrating your facility’s dedication to community wellbeing.
4. Thank Your Healthcare Staff With Appreciation Gifts
Even as you verbally thank your staff each day, you can take this week as an opportunity to show your appreciation in other ways. Consider distributing staff appreciation gifts that are personalized to each of your team members. These gifts don’t have to be extravagant. Even a heartfelt thank you card or letter can make a meaningful impact, showing your staff that you genuinely recognize and appreciate their individual efforts.
5. Host a Celebratory Luncheon
Beyond recognizing individual contributions, you should also find ways to bring your team together and celebrate all of your collective achievements. One way to do this is by hosting a celebratory luncheon. This can even be a great way to launch the week altogether.
In addition to food, consider setting up fun activities for your staff to enjoy. You can put together a video montage of appreciation messages for the team, or even set up a photobooth where your staff can take memorable pictures with each other.
6. Provide Professional Development Opportunities
Celebrating growth is also an important aspect of what this week is about. So, find ways to leverage resources and help your staff continue growing and advancing their careers. Consider organizing free educational workshops or seminars that clinicians can sit in on throughout the week. You can also encourage your staff to attend conferences and exchange knowledge with healthcare workers across the country.
7. Educate the Public About Different Hospital Roles
There’s a lot that goes into keeping a hospital running smoothly. From the frontline healthcare workers, to the kitchen’s line cooks, every staff member plays a vital role in a facility’s success — which is what this year’s theme is all about.
While the public may be familiar with doctors and nurses, you can uplift your staff by raising awareness on the lesser known but equally important roles within a hospital. Highlighting the contributions of lab technicians, environmental services staff, and transcriptionists on social media can foster greater appreciation for the entire healthcare team.
Want More Ideas to Celebrate and Support Your Staff?
Hospital week is a great opportunity to celebrate with the healthcare community — but your support and recognition of staff is a year round endeavor. Get even more healthcare management tips and insights that can help you cultivate a happier workforce everyday.