Ambassadors Legacy

Until retiring in her 60s, she took pride in her service as a nursing assistant. She recalled many examples of serving as an advocate for her clients at the hospital, providing personalized care and treating them as individuals. Representing their interests and providing care to the best of her ability helped to give her life purpose, in addition to raising a family of nine children in Birmingham, AL. Through her final battle with pancreatic cancer while assisted in her home by her grandson, her bravery and life of service testify to her legacy.

Her name was Bessie Saxton, the grandmother of Dr. Ronald Bryant, at the time a high school student and aspiring physician. It was much later when her example served as foundation for Ambassadors. Before medical school, Dr. Bryant served as a nursing assistant for several months, gaining an appreciation for his grandmother's life of service. Many years later, while working as a physician in the hospital, a colleague commented on the need for personal caregivers for elderly--those who could treat seniors with dignity and improve their safety and quality of life. From this idea sprang Patient Sitters, later renamed Ambassadors. Little did they know, that they were continuing a tradition that began in Birmingham, AL decades earlier-a tradition of serving as a caring representative for the needs of seniors.