The Employee of the Month Award recognizes the people you love to work with. These winners show exceptional performance as defined by the network’s Standards of Behavior, live out the network’s values, and demonstrate the healing presence practices outlined in Called to Care.
You can read the nomination stories and view the pictures of the December Employees of the Month below. Congratulations to all of our recipients!
Barbara Kelsey – Environmental Services, Kettering Health Behavioral Medical Center
“I think Barb would be a great pick for Employee of the Month. Sometimes we forget about those that are hidden behind locked doors so to speak. Barb is a very hard worker and sometimes helps take up the slack when needed to cover for call-offs. She works on the BICU and COOC units and the staff think she is a great team player. We are proud to have Barb as a part of Environmental Services. Here are some comments from the staff about Barb:
‘Barb is always looking for ways to serve’
‘She always identifies the discharges early so she can anticipate her workflow for the day. She is great at time management.'”
Charity Best – Emergency Room, Kettering Health Dayton
“Charity arrives to work every day with a positive attitude and ready to provide exceptional care to her patients and work with her team to help elevate the reputation of Kettering Health Dayton and Kettering Health. On her first shift as charge nurse in the ED she faced critical staffing shortages all three days, holds due to lack of beds on the inpatient units, and constant influx of walk-in and ambulance patients. She displayed confidence and a calm demeanor while leading the ED team, inspiring the team, and helping to provide a positive image to our patients. Although there was no other staff to help support her unit, she took the lead and did the very best that she could in very difficult situations. Charity provided and continues to provide exceptional leadership when called upon and does so with grace and dignity. Staff members look forward to working with her and all appreciate her professionalism and positivity. Charity’s professionalism and calm demeanor provide her team with confidence and allows them to work well as a team providing exceptional care. The ED team can function with unity in presence, and they appreciate her ability to multi-task and direct bed flow in a most productive manner. As leaders, we feel assured that when she is in charge, we know that she will be able to manage the ED effectively. When she is a staff nurse, we know that the patients in her care will have a positive experience and received superior care from a highly proficient nurse. She inspires all of our confidence and is a truly positive force in nursing in support of herself, Kettering Health Dayton, and Kettering Health.”
Tyler Rich – Police & Security, Kettering Health Greene Memorial
“Sergeant Rich is very dependable. He is very active in the community and well-liked by those he serves, namely Kettering Health Greene Memorial. He is very friendly and talkative and loves taking care of people. Rich is very responsive when problems arise. He strives to stay on top of his duties and obligations. He keeps everyone safe at the hospital, every day, every time. Recently, he was asked to assist with managing Soin Medical Center when their supervisor was away due to an illness. Rich stepped in and assisted with the police department’s needs for both hospitals. He did so without complaining, keeping both hospitals running efficiently, and kept everyone safe by making sure both hospitals’ police needs were taken care of. He managed to get all the officers to chip in and help out.”
Jamie Dawson – ICU, Kettering Health Hamilton
“Jamie has really gone above and beyond for our ‘long hauler’ COVID patients. She always finds ways to give them encouragement to keep fighting when weeks have gone by and they haven’t made much progress. She has taken little plush hearts and writes positive messages for the patients to hold on to and squeeze when they feel scared or anxious. Jamie encourages the patients to stay positive even when they feel lonely and are tired of wearing the continuous oxygen. She inspires me to also go above and beyond for my patients because I see firsthand what a positive impact it can have on their mood. Thank you, Jamie, for all you do. It does not go unnoticed!”
Danny Keys – Sports Medicine, Kettering Health Main Campus
“This fall, Dan Keys assisted a community matter in a big way. A former patient and his wife were near our building when the man’s wife had a significant bowel and bladder accident in the car. The former patients husband felt comfortable enough to come in our center and ask Dan (who he remembered from his time here) for help. Dan helped the man and his wife to the bathroom. Dan then helped craft rag-sized towels for the gentleman to assist his wife. Dan took the bag of garments needing disposed and cleaned up the bathroom. The man and his wife left, however, the man soon returned as they could not find the wife’s keys and phone. Dan went to retrieve the bag from the dumpster and helped the man look through the soiled garments. The phone and keys were not there. The gentleman felt so supported by Dan that he reached out to Dan when the phone and keys were found to let him know. Dan has been with the department for 21 years and he is often helping others including in the parking lot when their cars do not start and organizing employee lunches. He comes in early to set up the therapy gym and unlock the doors of the office. Dan keeps patients company and entertained if there is any wait for a therapist.”
Christina Meyer – Recruitment, Kettering Network Services
“Tina is cheerful, helpful, and always looking to improve things. When anyone asks for help with a task, she runs with it and makes it even better than we requested. Something that has bothered me for years is the printing quality of the scanned documents that patients sign when they arrive. The documents seem to always print with lines all over them which, upon first impression, doesn’t reflect the quality of the care and experience the patient will have here. Tina found the original documents, put them in a PDF format, and reached out to the Marketing and Communications department to get them translated into Spanish. She always takes things to the next level. This helps us to look professional and better depict our great facility. Almost a year after the merge with Kettering Health Dayton, our charts were still not in the correct filing cabinets. Tina took the time to move them into the correct managers office and added the specific files for each employee. She has helped us get our lives organized after more than a year of COVID and confusion. I appreciate all her help and her sweet demeanor.”
James Center – Operating Room, Kettering Health Miamisburg
“James has the most uplifting personality and is an extremely hard worker. When you need help, he is one of the first ones to offer a hand. He is a shining star and his work ethic and upbeat personality makes the days flow so much better. He keeps his coworkers’ spirits up and is a pleasure to work with. No matter in which department you work, Jim works with you.”
Kelli Callahan – Patient Access, Kettering Physician Network
“Kelli is and has always been an amazing leader, and prior to her new role as a coordinator, Kelli had a special relationship with every patient that walked in the door. Recently, we had a patient that was extremally confused and three hours late for his appointment. Upon his late arrival, the health center worked as a team to get this patient taken care of. The provider was more than happy to see him and assess him and at this time felt it would be unwise for this patient to drive himself home. Team members in the center worked hard behind the scenes to find this gentleman a way home and teamwork was the key! Kelli in the meantime sat this patient down, offered water and a snack (he had not eaten all day), and just sat with him. She spent time talking with him about the patient’s love of Bengals football and calmed his concern of us “taking away his ability to drive.” The patient was demented, and Kelli just talked continuing to reassure him of positive thoughts. She had him smiling by the time his nephew arrived to drive him home. Kelli had no other concerns at this time other than to make sure this patient was safe and sound. This is just another example of how working together, having a smile, and letting that patient know they are the most important person can make your job so enjoyable and accomplishing.”
Sajay Pillai – Respiratory Care, Soin Medical Center
“Sajay is one of the best respiratory therapists we have on nights. We appreciate him more than he will ever know! Sajay is very trustworthy. Anytime we need him on the unit, he is there in what seems like seconds. When we are having difficulty with a patient or ventilator, Sajay is innovative and finds a way for them to be compliant. Sajay is very competent with his skills. He can manipulate the vents to benefit the patients. He is very caring, not only for patients and their families, but for his co-workers as well. He treats everybody with dignity and respect. He’s collaborative with every member of the patient’s healthcare team. Sajay is always available when we need him in the ICU. It doesn’t matter if it is his unit or not, if we call for assistance, he is always there with a smile. Sajay never complains or has a bad attitude. We can be having a bad night, but Sajay’s positivity makes it better. There have been so many instances where Sajay has helped us out in a clutch. We intubated a patient one morning at 5:30 a.m. and the patient ended up needing bagged for more than two hours and emergently proned before he could find a vent setting that the patient could tolerate. There was another patient that coded and needed a stat CT. The patient couldn’t be put on the transport vent because the settings were too high so Sajay manually bagged them all the way to, from, and during the CT for us to get the images and keep the patient breathing. He was even rammed into a door or two and the wall while doing this but kept smiling and bagging the whole way. Sajay has been ran into more doors and walls than I can count in multiple emergent situations, but never defers from keeping the patient safe. Sajay always does what is best for the patient and he always does it with a smile. We honestly love having Sajay on the unit and appreciate him more than he will ever know.”
Cara Stephens – Emergency Department, Kettering Health Troy
Cara continually displays an exceptional work ethic and amazing teamwork. Cara will take the initiative to update patient’s vital signs without being asked and help patients and their family when she knows the nursing staff is busy. This is always important but now more than ever with the challenges of staffing during COVID. Cara approaches the patients and their family with such a positive and caring attitude, lending to the feeling that they are important and cared about not only as a patient but as a person. Cara continually displays the Kettering Health values of being trustworthy, caring, and competent. In addition to being helpful, Cara is always positive and when asked for her assistance enthusiastically jumps in to help. She always presents with a smile on her face! Cara will help clean rooms and will assist in bringing patients back to rooms without being asked. I always look forward to working when Cara is on our team and I know without a doubt she will positively impact throughput as well as patient care. When Cara has down time, she will also help the nurses with their stocking which goes above and beyond! Our team would certainly not be the same without Cara and we appreciate her beyond words!
Julie Moster – Pharmacy Infusion Center, Kettering Health Washington Township
“Julie shows a strong dedication to our team daily. She seems to be willing to do anything asked of her. Recently, Julie was at dinner celebrating her anniversary. We had a call after hours to add an antibiotic on the schedule for the weekend. Julie insisted it was not a problem to go to Kettering Health Washington Township after dinner to put in a treatment plan and make the weekend medication so the patient could be discharged. Patients always come first for Julie and her actions encourages her peers to have the same attitude towards patients.”
Do you know someone who is a Kettering Health Star? Help us honor them by telling their story in the Kettering Health Stars form, located in the MyHR portal.