Joellen Kemper has been named Healthcare Worker of the Year at Hocking Valley Community Hospital’s recent employee recognition ceremony.
“This is a special day because we recognize employees whose service has exceeded expectations, or whose dedication to the hospital is obvious in everything they do. That should make us all proud,” HVCH Chief Nursing Officer Stacey Gabriel said.
HVCH employees cast ballots to select Healthcare Worker of the Year and Joellen won by popular vote.
“Our employees had to make a difficult decision this year. They had five excellent nominations for Healthcare Worker of the Year,” Julie Stuck, HVCH President and CEO, said.
“Joellen is a true gem to HVCH. She always has a smile on her face and never has a bad word to say about anyone. She is kind, compassionate, professional and has genuine concern for her coworkers and the patients she serves,” Stuck continued. “Joellen goes above and beyond to ensure the patient has what they need to receive excellent care. She also does everything she can to make sure the staff of HVCH have everything they need from a pharmacy standpoint to perform their job duties.”
The Excellence in Leadership Award also was given during the ceremony. The award was introduced to recognize hospital directors, managers and supervisors for exemplary behavior in their leadership role. This year’s award was given to Kandy Fizer, Director of Education.
“Our recent Epic (electronic health record) conversion was a huge undertaking for many throughout the organization, however, there was only one person responsible for managing aspects of the project across the entire organization and that was Kandy Fizer. Kandy was responsible for ensuring that over 350 Epic users had the required training to use the Epic system. There were more than 5,000 hours of training that needed completed in less than two months time. The completion of the required training would not have been possible without Kandy’s strong organizational skills and her attention to detail,” Stuck said.
In addition to the awards given, several HVCH employees were recognized for their years of service to the hospital.
Celebrating 10 years of service are: Mary Burggraf, Amber Kilpatrick, Joseph Manuel, Tesa Phillips, Lisa Proctor, John Rardain, Faith Todd and Elaine Walker.
Celebrating 15 years of service are: Angel McLaughlin, Sheila Ryan and Maggie Wilson.
Celebrating 20 years of service are: Alison Monroe, Amy Scarberry, Julia Sinnott, Heather Smith and Julie Stuck.
Celebrating 25 years of service are: Amy Hooper and Stacie Wilson.
Celebrating 30 or more years of service are: Holly Gompf, 31 years; Lori Linton, 32 years; Sheri Thompson, 34 years; Letha Burrell, 36 years; Geoff Perry, 36 years; Marilyn Johnson, 39 years; and Christy Schneider, 39 years.
“Each one of you is an integral piece of the fabric that weaves HVCH together,” Stuck concluded. “While we set aside this day to bestow accolades upon certain individuals among us, it is all of us together who make HVCH the strong healthcare provider it is today.”