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 August Employees of the Month below. Congratulations to all of our recipients!
Sue Spaulding – Patient Registration, Fort Hamilton Hospital
“Sue is my favorite person to work with of all time, not only does she put a smile on my face, but also the patients and co-workers around her. At 92, she still does her part of registering the patients and gets the IMM’s and moon notices. Her witty comments are truly a pleasure in everyone’s day. She has said since the first time working with her, she loves the job and the people here, and it has been a great joy to be a part of this Fort family. Great job Sue! You are an inspiration to many. Seeing her working and being an inspiration to many is so impactful. On some of the patient’s worst day, they see her and remember her from coming in the emergency room before which also has an impact on them.”
Charlene Green – Community Phys, Greene Memorial Hospital
“We have an elderly patient in Yellow Springs that calls the office every day just to visit. Charlene noticed that this patient hadn’t called for two days, so Charlene called her to check on her and make sure everything was okay. Charlene learned that this patient was not feeling well, so Charlene offered to go to the store and pick up juice that the patient needed after work. I believe the patient denied the offer, but it made my heart so warm to hear Charlene offer this to a patient. Charlene is a star in our office every day but it’s the little extra things like this example that make her a superstar!”
Beth Thoele – Surgical Intensive Care U, Grandview Medical Center
“Beth was the first RN assigned to me in SICU after my surgery. I don’t know her last name, but the care and empathy I received from her was in my memory the best I have ever had from any nurse, anywhere, at any time. About three weeks after that time in SICU, I was back and although she was not assigned to me, she found out I was back and came to visit with me for a few minutes after her shift had ended. She is an exemplary individual and although I had excellent care from most of the nurses assigned to me during my thirty-nine days in Kettering Health facilities, none were better than Beth.”
Jimmy Whittle – Police & Security, Kettering Behavioral Medical Center
“Jim is very pleasant to interact with and very quick to respond when called to assist. There was an instance with a patient who elevated on the Behavioral Intensive Care Unit and Jim responded very quickly to both calls for assistance. He even stayed until we as a team agreed we would be okay and then he made sure to check back on us. Feeling supported by the security staff and knowing they are there for us when we need them makes our jobs much easier!”
Susan Bledsoe – OP Neurorehab & Balance Center, Kettering Medical Center
“Susan continuously goes above and beyond her job description to improve the lives of the people she serves, both our patients at NeuroRehab and Balance Center and our coworkers. Recently, Susan helped a previous patient of ours navigate a situation that was out of his control and he did not know where to turn. He recently had surgery and was having medical issues and knew he needed services to improve his condition, but he did not know who to reach out to to find resources for inpatient rehabilitation services. Susan began reaching out to providers to seek help and even wrote a letter to insurances and other stakeholders, with the patient’s permission, explaining the situation and the services the patient needed to improve his quality of life and function to enable him to return to living independently. Susan took time out of an already busy schedule to make multiple phone calls and emails to meet our patient’s needs. She even jeopardized missing a flight to write a letter and make phone calls for this patient to ensure he received what he needed as soon as possible. Her efforts paid off and the client is receiving all the services he needs to increase his independence in taking care of himself to eventually live independently again. He is so grateful for Susan as we all are. Susan comes to work every day ready to make change and improve the lives of everyone around her. She regularly plans social events, collects money for wedding and baby showers, and makes everyone feel valued and heard. She is invaluable and NeuroRehab is so much better because of her.”
Carla Slavik – IS Business Patient Care, Kettering Network Services
“Carla has done extraordinary work leading the way for improving how we test IT systems with end users prior to opening a new department which is often referred to as ‘Day in the Life’. As part of the team that discovered the day in the life event was proving to be ineffective, she was actively and enthusiastically engaged in a rapid improvement effort. She took ownership of helping to build and define the scripts, even though this did not fall within the scope of her normal role. What she produced was nothing less than extraordinary. She created a template that helped delineate roles and workflows, as well as all the items that would need taken care of in preparation to run through the script during the event. There is no doubt in my mind that this took hours and hours of Carla’s time to research and understand all the applicable roles and workflows, and how they fit together. Carla’s work has gone on to be the basis and central foundation around how we run a day in the life event, vastly improving the effectiveness of the event. At our first event after the rapid improvement, we discovered that there was a lack of integration between nurse call and Vocera, impacting the code blue process. Had we not identified this as part of this new testing process, it could have easily contributed to an adverse event with a patient. Furthermore, Carla is extraordinary to watch during one of these events. She is on the floor, in the unit, talking to everyone, engaging with clinicians about Epic workflows that are suboptimal for them and troubleshooting on the spot. On several occasions, now, I’ve witnessed Carla pull up a chair next to a nurse or provider and discuss how fields and icons impact their work on the floor. Often, these items end up being enhancements, for which there aren’t immediate solutions, however it is apparent how much our clinicians appreciate her engagement, concern, and efforts to create a better care environment for them and their patients. I’m continually impressed with how she connects with people and creates that bridge between IS and the clinical care environments. It’s obvious Carla cares deeply for the important, vital work she does, and how it fits in to the big picture – providing excellent patient care.”
Brenda Damico – Kettering Cardio & Vascular, Kettering Physician Network
“Brenda has always been helpful in the office, whether it was to help a fellow co-worker or patient, so I knew she would be able to help my patient. The patient called to say she was lost. She had gotten off at the wrong exit and wasn’t sure where she was. I could hear in the patient’s voice that she was very upset, and close to crying. I asked Brenda if she could help the patient, and she dropped what she was doing and came to the phone. Brenda spoke to the person calmly, asked her for some landmarks, and guided the person to our office while staying on the phone with the patient the entire time. When the patient arrived, she thanked Brenda and explained to her that she was having a panic attack due to some previous trauma she had suffered as child and getting lost had triggered that. Brenda told the patient she was happy she was able to help. Brenda has always been a great patient advocate. This is just one of the times Brenda has stepped in to help when needed. She helps co-workers daily, whether it be with helping find information for a patient, or as simple as making sure those she works with get a lunch break on busy days. She has worked the COVID-19 clinics on her weekends, helping get the community vaccinated. She has supported her co-workers emotionally, financially when needed, and never says no when you need help. She is a shoulder to cry on, support when you need it most, keeps us laughing, and has the biggest heart. The best thing is that she does all this quietly, without looking for praise or validation. You can ask anyone in our office, and they will have a story about Brenda. She started out as a co-worker, and now I’m privileged to call her my friend.”
Aledra Wells – Environmental Services – Middletown, Sycamore Medical Center
“Recently, our Environmental Services team started placing cards in clean rooms. Aledra goes above and beyond to give her cards a personal touch with a small drawing and hand written ‘get well soon’ message. She takes her compassion one step above and writes her personalized sentence in Spanish. Aledra knows here at Middletown we have a large Spanish speaking population. It may sound like a small act of kindness to some, but to me it exemplifies what living the Kettering Health mission is all about! Aledra is a wonderful example of the little things we can do to provide our patients with excellent, personalized care. We can all learn something from Aledra. It’s my pleasure to work alongside her every day.”
Julie Edwards – REHAB – Springfield, Soin Medical Center
“Julie has been willing to take her personal time such as lunch and use her own finances to purchase items needed for patients. She graciously and generously gave up her lunch break time to drive from Springfield to Xenia to pick up an orthotic medical device needed for one of our therapy patients. She frequently extends help and assistance to our patients and families well above and beyond her job expectations. Julie provides a positive example of our mission to serve our patients and the communities in which we live and work. She has demonstrated a willingness to act to improve the quality of life of those we encounter and are blessed to serve with our therapy services.”
Amanda Bowyer – Maternity, Southview Medical Center
“Amanda is always helping out. She is such a hard worker and I really appreciate her always jumping in and helping even when it is super busy. She is always willing to come in when we are short staffed. She accommodates other staff schedules and switches days when they need it and she provides orientation for our new techs. I have seen her work days where she is the only tech on the unit and must be in the operating room for C-sections all day and never complains. Thank you for your positive attitude and amazing work ethic! She is always smiling and caring. She is a huge asset to Southview Maternity! Thanks Amanda!”
Julie Murphy – Environmental Services, Troy Hospital
“Julie always volunteers to come in on off days to help the team out when we are short staffed. She takes pride in making sure everything is clean for the safety of the patients as well as the staff. From the moment I interviewed her, I knew she would be a great part of my team. I’m so thankful for her. Julie always, and I mean always, has a big smile on her face. She is constantly busy doing her job and when she’s caught up she continues to help others with things they need done. She impacts others in the way that she is always willing to go the extra mile even when she’s not feeling her best. She is a great part of our team and we are lucky to have her with us.”
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.