It’s often said that your co-workers become your family. That statement rings true at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City, Missouri. Every year, the hospital hosts Joy Day as a thank you for staff.
Two staples during the annual celebration are storeroom clerk Mike Eichholz, and clinical informaticist Wanda Woods, as they work the crowd spreading Christmas cheer as Santa and his helper elf. They both find excitement during Joy Day, and their work has attracted local media attention.
“I enjoy it,” Eichholz said. “I love doing it. I love seeing the faces of the kids.”
It has been a hospital tradition for a decade. Both Eichholz and Woods sauntered around the hospital café passing out candy canes and greeting staff, patients and visitors.
Woods retired the first time in 2000, but came back to St. Mary’s and will retire again at the end of the year. Mike has been with St. Mary’s for 28 years and will retire later in 2025.
“I’m coming back next year for this,” Woods said, gesturing to Joy Day happening around her.
As a storeroom clerk at the hospital, Eichholz spends most of the day receiving postal packages and distributing products to various hospital floors. He said he looks forward to the day he gets the call that the big guy in the red suit is needed. He started playing Santa when the new St. Mary’s Hospital opened in 2014.
“I’ve been doing it ever since,” Eichholz said, “and enjoy every time I do it.”
