Jodi Thoma was Kettering Medical Center’s nominee for the Ohio Hospital Association’s 2017 Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award. One employee from each campus is nominated for this award, which is presented annually to one Ohio hospital caregiver who personifies a leader, gives back to the community, reflects the mission and values of his or her organization, and routinely goes beyond the call of duty. You can read Jodi’s nomination below:
Jodi Thoma, an admitting registration clerk for Specialty Surgery at Kettering Medical Center, extends healing compassion to patients and their families every day. She expertly juggles the needs of patients, families, surgery staff, and physicians with a genuine smile and cheerful attitude. She leads as a mentor for new staff, setting a high standards of what it looks like to be called to care. In one instance, Jodi stayed late to serve a patient’s family. As they waited for news of their loved one, Jodi and a co-worker bought dinner for the family. Small actions like these add up, resulting in stacks of patient comments that even her HR leader can’t get through.
Great Leader
Jodi Thoma is a leader in customer care and a role model in the Patient Access Department. Because she exhibits exemplary performance, she helps train new team members and takes them under her wing. When another department was temporarily moving into the Patient Access office area, Jodi went to her leader with a strategy to make the transition go smoothly for staff and patients. The leaders and executives involved were surprised at how collaborative and accommodating it was to make this merger with another department. Jodi is always thinking about what she can improve, and this is just one situation in which she led the charge. Jodi leads by example, taking ownership of her role and sacrificing for the patients and families with whom she works. Jodi is often required to juggle multiple needs at once, like handling the patient registration process, relaying updates to surgery staff and physicians, and keeping the patient’s family informed at the same time. Not only does she accomplish these tasks thoroughly, she does so with a genuine smile, cheerful attitude, and a kind word for everyone with whom she comes in contact. Jodi is a consistent high performer and her leaders rely on her.
Goes Beyond the Call of Duty
Jodi serves patients and their families in unique ways. Not only does she take care of their questions, needs, and liability, but she also makes sure that the patients and their families have every comfort available during their day of surgery. Jodi was recognized earlier this year for going over and above for a family who had a loved one that needed emergency surgery at Kettering Medical Center. Jodi had been balancing the needs of another department in addition to her own that day, and it was approaching time for the department to close when a large family arrived in support of their family member in need of surgery. Noticing the number of people in the family, including children, and the time of day, Jodi and a co-worker volunteered to stay late to assist the family. She even took it upon herself to purchase pizzas and drinks for everyone in the group while waiting on news of their loved one. The family was grateful for this act of kindness and wrote a touching letter of thanks. This is just one example of the ways Jodi goes over and above for everyone she meets.
Reflects the Mission and Values of Kettering Health Network
Jodi cares immensely for the patients at Kettering Medical Center and their families, and it is apparent that she loves what she does every day. Caring is an organization value that Jodi exhibits effortlessly. Jodi receives thank you notes, messages, and designations as a Network Star quite regularly from the individuals who were touched by the extra time, effort, and extraordinary kindness that she showed them. Occasionally they will stop back in the department for no other reason but to see Jodi and thank her. In all of this, she keeps a humble and thankful attitude, often expressing thanks to her leaders for letting her work at Kettering Medical Center. She believes in giving 110 percent all the time, and she will tell you that Kettering Health Network does the same. Jodi holds herself to a high standard and identifies with the mission of the organization in all their efforts to improve the quality of life for patients and the surrounding communities.
Gives Back to the Community
Seeing her work as more than just a job, Jodi works hard to meet the need of every individual that walks up to the department throughout the day. She takes the Kettering Health Network philosophy of being called to care and applies it to her mindset, her words, and her actions. When Jodi was awarded Employee of the Month last year, the Director of HR had enough time to read only a few of the comments sent in about Jodi from patients. Instead, he presented her with the stack of papers with patient’s comments, saying that it would take far too long to read them all aloud. Jodi gives back to the community in the way she goes over and above for each and every patient and family member. She believes that she does not need recognition or praise for the extra things that she does on a daily basis because that is what we are all supposed to do for our community members. She is a great ambassador for Patient Access, Kettering Medical Center, and the community.