Going the extra mile to deliver pie — and a smile — to an Essentia patient

Lanie Dixon's title at Essentia Health is vice president of patient experience. Nowhere in her job description will you find the words "food delivery." That is, however, precisely the role Lanie filled following a chance encounter at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in January.

Lanie had just returned from a getaway with her girlfriends and was walking to baggage claim. En route, she struck up a conversation with another woman, Jocelyn Cookson of Edina, who had been in Key West, Florida. While there, Jocelyn had purchased a key lime pie for her father-in-law, Larry Kujala. The problem? Jocelyn didn’t know how she would get the tasty treat to Larry, who was recovering from a stroke at Essentia Health-Duluth.

Lanie, who would be on the Essentia campus the next morning, had an idea.

“I can get it to him,” she declared.

“Really, you’d do that for me?” Jocelyn replied.

“It wouldn’t make sense for me not to do it!” Lanie assured her.

Jocelyn then handed the delicacy, along with its insulated cold pack, to Lanie. The pie was set for the final leg of its nearly 2,000-mile journey.

The next day, Lanie and her team — including Ashanti Halli, Amy Vanderscheuren, Holly Brenno and Cassandra Voltzke — delivered the pie to Larry. He was all smiles.

The best part? Jocelyn made sure it was gluten-free so Larry could properly enjoy it.

“Larry and I both live with Celiac disease,” Jocelyn shared with Lanie. “I was diagnosed several years ago, Larry a couple of decades ago. Needless to say, we have a special food bond between us because we are very limited and it seems like all of the ‘good stuff’ is made with gluten! So I really wanted him to get a slice of the world’s best key lime pie, gluten-free.”

Lanie says she was happy to be in the right place at the right time, so she could deliver the pie — and happiness — to Larry.

“For me, it’s a part of the beautiful culture at Essentia that I’m a part of and trying to grow,” she said. “Just creating an environment where our patients expect us to go the extra mile. That’s the culture I want to build upon, and I know we have the capabilities to do that. It’s really important for me to support our patients and their families, who support us.

“It was something so small. And it brought a smile to him and his family.”

Indeed, it did. Especially Jocelyn, who had planned to store the pie in her freezer at home until she was able to visit Larry. Fortunately, Lanie intervened in the airport.

Shortly after they met, Jocelyn let Lanie know that she shared the story with friends.

“They were in tears,” Jocelyn recounted. “They were just blown away by your generosity and your spirit.”

While Lanie may never specialize in food delivery, she and her teammates will keep working to deliver the best possible experience for Essentia’s patients and visitors.