HOSPITAL WEEK EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION CEREMONY
The first National Hospital Day was established in the year 1921 by President Warren G. Harding as an attempt to inspire community members to support hospitals after the Spanish flu outbreak in 1918. The devastating epidemic killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide, including more than 675,000 Americans. He picked May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, to honor the famed nurse who set initial standards for hospital quality during the Crimean War of 1854.