The Employee of the Month Award recognizes the people you love to work with. These winners show exhibit Kettering Health’s Standards of Behavior, live out our values, and demonstrate the healing presence practices outlined in Called to Care.
You can read the nomination stories and view the pictures of the May Employees of the Month below. Congratulations to all of our recipients!
Randi Quale – Science and Math, Kettering College
“Randi has consistently and carefully worked on Kettering College’s accreditation, its General Bulletin, and has maintained her commitment to Science and Math while contributing to the organization’s health and continuance through these acts of service beyond teaching. She is consistent, kind, and organized. She is good-natured about her hard work and speaks positively of others to encourage positive action. Her commitment to the college is commendable. She provides the college with its Academic Bulletin, the foundation on which our academic programs operate. This is an archived document that is legally binding. It takes a lot of work to ensure its accuracy and to update it annually.”
Kaitlyn Kordalis – Evaluation Services , Kettering Health Behavioral Medical Center
“Kaitlyn is an integral part of our team. She works collaboratively with other departments and community partners. She is trusted by her co-workers and physicians to manage difficult patient situations. She brings a wealth of knowledge, compassion, and patience to her role with the BHAT team. Kaitlyn is also a role model for new staff, treating them with kindness and patience. It is always a pleasure to work with Kaitlyn and I look forward to our days together.”
Cristian Vasilescu – Materials Distribution, Kettering Health Dayton
“Cristian is a forward thinker. He has brought me several innovative ideas to improve our services or create a safer environment. One example is that Cristian came to me and asked if he could train our new hire in Equipment Tracking when we fill the position. He wants to train them in tracking and materials so there will be a cross over and they can help each other during the rough spots when census or needs spike. Talk about promoting teamwork! Cristian has been filling-in for open positions as needed when he is here. Cristian doesn’t see the lines of ‘my job.’ If there is a need, he will try to fill it no matter what area it is in. Cristian is an example of living our mission and culture. It is beyond question that he is an asset to the Dayton campus.”
Heather Dewine – Medical Assistant, Jamestown Family Practice, Kettering Health Greene Memorial
“Heather is an example of someone I truly feel encompasses the mission of Kettering Health by improving the quality of life for the patients in the communities we serve. Not only has Heather time after time been the go-to person when we have staffing needs without a second thought, but she also acts as a great advocate for the patients whom she cares for. Just recently, I was able to see firsthand the care and devotion Heather puts forth for her patients. I watched as Heather worked through an issue a patient was having with their insurance (not something normally in our purview). The patient needed a vital test conducted at location off-site and the insurance of the patient was not recognizing the location as an option for the patient to receive care. Heather, having experience in her field and great attention to detail was able to find the insurance company was spelling the name of the location wrong and this to be the issue. Heather was able to work through every aspect of the claim process before coming to this conclusion. As anyone who has dealt with insurance companies would tell you, it is not always the easiest task to work through. Throughout this process I watched as Heather problem solved and brainstormed the solution to the core problem. Heather truly went above and beyond for her patient on this day and the result was that the test was able to successfully be conducted without any lapse in care for the patient.”
Bill Boone – Plant Engineering, Kettering Health Hamilton
“A lot of Bill’s work might go unseen but is critical to keeping the hospital operational. He is responsible for maintaining the hospital’s infrastructure, keeping things running smoothly, and repairing issues as they arise. This work keeps staff, patients, and visitors safe and comfortable. Bill pays attention to the details, reports issues along with recommendations for solutions, and never leaves in times of need. He always makes certain our systems are running under difficult circumstances, day or night. Another example is when Bill stayed well after his shift ended to assist with the Linear Accelerator Vault door that had fallen off its hinge. The door was nearly 4,000 pounds and he was able to use his expertise to help get the door operational so they could see patients the following morning. Bill has also been recognized with a few Shooting Stars that speak to his kind and caring nature.”
Diane Westhafer – Sleep Center, Kettering Health Main Campus
“First, Diane is a ray of sunshine and will lighten up any room she enters. Diane has been so helpful to Kettering Health Main Campus Sleep Care office with staffing issues. Diane has volunteered to pick up extra shifts with many of them being very short notice. Diane heard that we were short-staffed and when her schedule changed she quickly informed us that she was available to help so that no one would be staffed alone. Diane is willing to do anything we ask her and always has a smile on her face. She has been a life-saver to us especially this month, as we would not have had enough staff to keep the clinic running without her. I cannot express enough of how many additional shifts Diane has continued to pick up to help our office.”
Darla Bowman – Radiology, Kettering Health Miamisburg
“Darla is a wonderful example of our organization’s standard of care. Recently, a patient was not having the best day and we had a hard time finding a vein because the lady was a difficult stick. I asked Darla to help. She immediately came in and was able to calm the patient. She of course did an amazing job getting a line for CT, and just before she was ready to walk out of the room, the patient said, ‘thank God.’ Darla asked if she could say a prayer with the patient, the patient was appreciative of the time Darla spent with her, and was so grateful Darla prayed with her. After the patient’s scans, when I was walking the patient out, she relayed to me that her husband’s funeral was yesterday and that she knew she was to meet Darla today to have that prayer said. Darla was able to take just a few minutes and changed our patient’s view. Darla was amazing and was in the right place at the right time. Words could not fully say how thankful the patient was for the prayer Darla shared with her.”
Adrianna Fritz – MedSurg, Kettering Health Troy
“I truly believe that Adi Fritz is one of the most compassionate and caring people that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Adi is patient and so kind to all her patients. She is upbeat and always has a smile in her voice. She always gives extra effort to ensure that our patients are well cared for. As her charge nurse, I am frequently (at least once a shift) told by our patients how wonderful Adi is. On a recent shift, Adi had been rounding, making sure that all our patients were comfortable and without needs, and was charting. We had an especially difficult patient who continually called out for something—usually it was nothing. Without hesitation or grumble, Adi checked on the patient with each call and made the patient feel that they were responded to. Adi does this every day, with every patient. Adi is a ray of sunshine. Her shifts always seem to go smoothly, and she makes her nurses’ jobs so much easier. Adi is friendly and outgoing and exceptionally patient. Without a doubt, I can say that her attitude, work ethic, and behavior have improved our patient satisfaction, not just scores but actual satisfaction – not to mention nursing job satisfaction. Adi is currently in nursing school, and she will be an amazing nurse!”
Amy Wiles – Pharmacy Infusion Center, Kettering Heath Washington Township
“Amy has taken time in between daily workflow to update order sheets so that when providers would like to send patients to the infusion center for any treatment, they have an easy form to fill out that covers all necessary clinical information. She has also gone outside her normal job duties and reached out to an insurance company to expedite the prior authorization process for a patient, so her treatment did not get delayed. The patient was very stressed that her therapy would be thrown off when it has been working so well for her and she was extremely grateful for Amy getting this taken care of in a timely manner, so she was able to come in on her scheduled due date for treatment. Patients are treated in a timely manner because of Amy’s actions. With the updated order sheets, the amount of phone calls to providers’ offices are reduced and we can start the prior authorization process sooner and get patients scheduled sooner. Stress for providers and patients are reduced. This patient in particular loves speaking to Amy every time she comes in for treatment just because she’s grateful for all the help Amy has provided.”
Timothy Poteet – Decision Support, Kettering Network Services
“Tim daily embodies our mission and vision through our values. Specifically, Tim has been very innovative in his support of the Oncology service line. He has come up with new methods for calculating business development and growth metrics and pulling accurate data that we have been able to use as a key part of our strategic plan for the next three years. His ability to go beyond a simple request for data and provide even more information, such as ratios of patients and the services they use, to the potential growth in each area that we are considering—well, I’ve never run into someone with his talent. And he does this in a collaborative fashion with the team. Tim doesn’t look for accolades, but you can tell he enjoys the work he is doing because he continually goes the extra mile and delivers a product that exceeds expectations. Tim’s actions impact myself, Tricia Tobe, and all my managers that he has helped support over the past two years he has been supporting the service line. The ripple effect from his efforts have moved out, via our strategic plan and key projects, to touch on multiple facilities and the new services that we’ve brought on, which in turn have had a direct impact on the lives of cancer patients in our communities. Without Tim’s talent and dedication, we would not be the amazing cancer program that we are.”
Jennifer Gephart- Heart & Vascular, Centerville, Kettering Physician Network
“Jen works hard to put our patients first. She makes all of them feel so special and loved. She goes out of her way to make sure that the patient doesn’t feel like just a number. Recently, she has done a few things that stand out even more than usual. She made a birthday cake for an older patient knowing that he was coming in the day before his birthday. He was so touched by her act that he cried for about 10 minutes and said, ‘now my birthday will be okay.’ She also recently helped a patient look for an expensive ring that they lost while in our office. The patient last remembered seeing her ring on her hand right before using the restroom. Jen helped this upset patient by putting on gloves and going through the trash for the entire first floor of our building. Jen also recently received a visit from a long-time patient that had just lost his wife. He told her that he was upset and he felt like he just needed to come and let her know because of how good she had always been to them. Jen and the patient stood and cried together. Jen makes everyone feel so loved. She continues to treat our patients as we would want to be treated or how we would want our parents to be treated if we weren’t there. She will sit and sing with confused patients and give them the love and attention they need to feel safe and taken care of. She truly has a heart of gold.”
Jared Crisenbery – Emergency Department, Soin Medical Center
“Jared not only lives out the standards of Kettering Health, but he goes above and beyond. He is always working hard and never complains. Jared’s work ethic inspires others around him give just a little more. He is always cleaning the unit and trying to make the work environment a better place. His attitude and smile are a great welcome each day I work with him. Jared impacts others by his demeanor and attitude. Jared leaves all patients and staff better than he found them. He is always encouraging and willing to give of himself for patients and staff. He is among the hardest workers I’ve encountered. At the end of every shift, Jared has always bettered the unit as a whole! He rocks.”