Most patients and family members visiting West Penn Hospital — especially those who park in the Liberty Avenue parking garage — pass Cora Brandon.

The parking cashier, who started working at the Bloomfield hospital 17 years ago in the cafeteria, holds court behind her glass window to greet visitors or help patients into a wheelchair before they even get through security. She sits steps away from a skywalk linking the parking complex with Mellon Pavilion’s second floor.

“They see me first and, when they come out, they see me last,” said Brandon, 62, who grew up in the Hill District and today lives in Swissvale. “I have a flow of regulars that come. They know me and I know them. We just talk. It’s an everyday-life kind of thing.”

A farmer whose wife was having surgery was taken aback by Brandon’s warmth, one hospital employee said. He started bringing her fresh vegetables.

A regular patient Brandon got to know — she calls her “the little Italian lady” — brings her coffee and doughnuts every time she visits, Brandon said.

Corkboards in Brandon’s tiny cashier room are filled with thank-you cards and knickknacks regulars have shared with Brandon over her 14 years as cashier.

Brandon, who works Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., feels her interactions help set the tone for people’s experiences at West Penn. West Penn is part of the Allegheny Health Network system.

“Whatever I present, it goes down the hall,” Brandon said. “West Penn is a village.”

Brandon said she honed her warmth and gift of gab with her own family. She’s the 13th of 15 children and a mother of two. On Sept. 29, she became a “G.G.” — a great-grandmother.

It all informs her work.

“I’ve seen the beginnings of pregnancies, right down to the end,” she said. “I’ve seen some beautiful things and people. Some people, they just want conversation and a little respect.”

Brandon’s boss — Paul Ondo, West Penn Hospital’s manager of materials management and parking services — attributes her knack at reading and helping people to “a very outgoing personality.”

“I’ve been able to witness Cora doing what she does best, the genuine care she gives to these patients and visitors here,” Ondo said. “The smile and a short conversation go a long way in somebody’s day — and she does that day in and day out.”

Brandon also knows her customers.

She remembers who’s coming in regularly for chemo treatment to battle cancer — or when someone’s arriving for a surgery that’s gnawing their nerves, Ondo said.

One man recently asked Brandon to step out from behind her cashier window to give him a hug.

“It makes me so proud to see how he deals with this,” said Brandon, who asked that the Trib not publish the man’s name or health issues. “And he still makes time to come and give me a hug. That speaks volumes.”

Dr. Brian Johnson has served as West Penn Hospital’s president for three years, and he’s worked as a physician there since 2006. He doesn’t want Brandon to change a thing.

“She’s one of a kind,” Johnson said.

About 2,000 people work at West Penn Hospital, keeping it running 24/7 all year, Allegheny Health Network spokeswoman Emily Beatty said. About 450 of them are non-clinical staff. They’re cafeteria workers, hospital greeters, transporters.

“Cora sets the tone pretty quickly,” Johnson said. “Everyone, every person that comes in, she tells them, ‘I’m going to help you in any way you need.’ People can sense when that’s forced. But, that’s her. That’s just her.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)