Nobody wants to spend Christmas in a hospital, perhaps because he or she is worried Santa Claus won’t be able to find him or her so he can leave presents.

Vidant Beaufort Hospital, sometimes with the assistance of outside help, does what it can to provide Christmas cheer to patients unfortunate enough to be in the hospital at Christmas.

“There’s some things we’ve had staff do. There’s some things we’ve had outside organizations do. For example, our emergency-department staff — they put together stockings filled with some small gifts so that if they have children who come to the emergency department on Christmas Day, they’ll have something to give them,” said Pam Shadle, manager of marketing, public relations and development for the hospital.

Others get in on the effort to bring the holiday spirit to patients during this time of the year, Shadle said.

“Last year, we had an outside organization — I wish I could remember the name — a woman who grew up here — she doesn’t live here now — I think it was her sorority made Christmas-themed silk-flower arrangements that were put in each of the patients’ rooms so there was something festive in the rooms,” Shadle said.

The hospital would welcome assistance in making hospital stays more festive for patients there during Christmas, she said.

“If there is an organization or folks in the community who are interested in doing something for patients who may be in the hospital around Christmas, just call me with ideas. We cans see if we can work with them to make that happen,” Shadle said.

Anyone interested in doing something to brighten Christmas for Vidant Beaufort Hospital patients may contact Pam Shadle at pam.shadle@vidanthealth.com or by calling 252-975-41354.