Living the Catholic Health Mission - Stephanie Giraulo

The Difference Between Ordinary and Extraordinary

For Stephanie Giraulo, Director of the Food & Nutritional Services Department at St. Charles and St. Catherine of Siena hospitals, service to our patients goes beyond the quality of food they receive. She is also a certified patient experience professional (CPXP) and a large part of her role is ensuring that the systems, processes and culture of Catholic Health are all calibrated to produce the best possible patient experience.

“We want our patients to feel safe, comforted and cared for,” explained Stephanie. “We recently learned that a patient of ours was about to celebrate his 102nd birthday and that he’d served in the Second World War. So we discovered his favorite dessert—coffee cake—and presented it to him with a fanfare, including balloons, and a bunch of us singing happy birthday to him. It was a lovely little moment, and we could see it meant a lot.”

Stephanie added that those ‘value added’ moments aren’t detours in our work—they are all part of what makes Catholic Health distinct. “We look for opportunities to demonstrate that extra level of care, show our support, and give them a little dose of reassurance,” she said. “At Catholic Health our people are committed to our patients.”

Stephanie’s in a good position to make that assessment, having started as a nutritional service aid when she was in high school. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nutrition at LIU C.W. Post, and her master’s in business administration at Stony Brook University. She’s been a rising star at Catholic Health ever since. In 2004, she was elevated to director of nutritional services at St. Charles and in 2019, she was asked to take on dual responsibility for St. Catherine of Siena.

“I’m sure I’m like a lot of people across Catholic Health. I thrive on teamwork and that whole ‘I’ve got your back’ spirit. Seems we just have a knack for coming together, whether it’s in crisis mode—like during the worst days of COVID—or the more routine days,” said Stephanie. “Something my administrator passed on to me years back is that the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little something extra. That really resonated with me and it’s something I like to pass on to all I work with.”