The New Hall Monitors

Will Siembor and the Adopt-A-Hallway program

When Will Siembor joined the Health System in 2005 as the Department of Surgery’s marketing director, he familiarized himself with the institution by walking a different route through the halls of the hospitals and main medical campus buildings every day.

But during those walks he began to notice that at certain times of the day it wasn’t uncommon to see bits of paper on the floor or cups set aside and forgotten. And yet, he thought, there are so many people walking by.

“At 8 a.m., the floors were so clean you could eat off them. But as the day went on, especially midmorning and midafternoon, things would get a little messy,” he says. “It occurred to me: If people already were walking the halls on a regular basis, why not create a program where people could choose a hallway to keep clean during those walks?”

Armed with a plan modeled after the Michigan Department of Transportation’s Adopt-A-Highway program, Siembor submitted an application to the Fostering Innovation Grants Program in June 2005.

He was subsequently awarded $1,500 in FIGs funding to kick-start a program where teams or individual walkers could voluntarily adopt hallways they would promise to keep clean.

According to Siembor, this program is a way for people to take pride and become more involved in the institution, and a great way to get in shape. The FIGs money funded T-shirts, signage design and production for one year.

The Adopt-A-Hallway program officially began in December 2005. Seven teams have adopted hallways thus far, but miles of hallways remain unclaimed. The only requirement for participation is a commitment to walk your adopted hallway at least twice per day, once midmorning and once midafternoon. And if you are really ambitious, consider adopting a stairwell instead!

To volunteer or nominate a hallway, e-mail wsiembor@umich.edu.