IMT Staff Spotlight: Doug Rosenthal (aka Santa)
It’s a little-known secret that a very important member of the North Pole team also works in Upstate’s IMT department on the Hospital Billing team.
The man behind the suit is and when not delighting children and families with special appearances, he works on billing security and reporting at Upstate. Doug has worked in the IMT department for 23 years and, outside of his official job role, he was promoted from gingerbread man to Santa four years ago at Central New York’s Lights on the Lake exhibit. For the past 3 years, Doug has also been volunteering his time and talents as Santa during December to conduct Zoom calls with children currently admitted at Upstate’s Golisano Children’s Hospital.
Sitting in his famous North Pole rocking chair with his elf-driven A/V team providing support, Santa is typically able to meet with 6-8 families during the course of the day. A child life specialist team member brings an iPad around to patient’s rooms where they can spend around five to ten minutes talking directly to Santa. Santa also allows families to take sELFies with him! Children sometimes have many questions for Santa who is happy to oblige with answers only an official resident of the North Pole would know. But most importantly, Santa gets to wish the children well and that their stay at the hospital is short so they can return home soon.
“I saw this happening at other hospitals and approached the Child Life Specialist team and offered to be Santa,” says Doug. “They are now a great support for making this happen for their patients.”
And yes, the beard is real. It takes less than a year to grow, much to Mrs. Claus’ dismay. She prefers the tamed, short beard that returns to Santa’s face on December 26th.
Happy holidays from all of IMT and Santa!
