Recognition of achievements in customer service, innovative ideas, going above and beyond and creating synergy in the work place.

Recognition for 2018

Workplace Recognition – Exceeding expectations, ideas that improve the workplace, stepping up and out of the everyday, promoting teamwork and improving morale – are represented by the accomplishments of the following staff:

July 2018 

Above and Beyond:

Christopher Smith

Chris Smith works in Path Stores. Chris went out of his way to help move instrumentation that had to be removed from the hallway. He stopped what he was doing and figured out how to move the large, heavy instruments. He assisted the microbiology staff to relocate the instruments in a fast, efficient manner. Chris went above and beyond and the micro staff (Peggy, Ted, Terrance, and Tony) are very appreciative!

 April 2018 

Above and Beyond:

Joy Beauregard

Joy is part of the hard working team of Cancer Center blood draw. She has gone over and beyond her daily work with always giving her 100%. Joy has gone further with making 62 Thirty-One Chemo bags contributions to the Mott Children Center and Cancer center. Her Bags included, fleece blankets, leggings, lotions, purell, comfort for our patients I want to recognize and Thank Joy for her compassion and care that she brings everyday and spreads her Joy everywhere.

 

March 2018 

Above and Beyond:

Ashley Powers

Ashley found a specimen that the physician had added a culture to a already resulted PCR test. She knew that it was a duplicate test that was unnecessary. She then paged the physician to get a better understanding of what the physician was looking for. Test was ordered correctly and physician was thankful. Ashley always takes the time to help others in and outside of the laboratory.

Courtney Fields

Courtney discovered an ADD-ON form that had gone unnoticed for sometime. She took the initiative to personally find an acceptable sample and performed the rapid testing. The testing was positive. She was able to notify the physician and help the best patient care. Courtney is a true team player and a great joy to work with

February 2018 

Above and Beyond:

Jennifer Havas

I want to extend congratulations to you for being the recipient of the 2018 “Going Above & Beyond” Workplace Recognition Award!

Ann Postiff brought to my attention that you have tackled your new role as Associate Supervisor for the Brighton group with earnestness, energy and dedication. You have made it clear that you want your team to succeed navigating the waters of complex orders and performing point of care tests, along with phlebotomy of patients of all ages. You have also participated in assisting other Satellite Support phlebotomy sites, such as dismantling the "old" West Ann Arbor blood draw station and assembling the brand new West Ann Arbor Parkland Plaza's blood draw lab. Dividing your time between two places and groups is not easy, but you have done a great job doing so.

You truly went "Above and Beyond,” and your efforts are representative of the values of the Department of Pathology and the Michigan Medicine. Thank you for your contributions, and we look forward to seeing you at the annual Recognition Reception as one of our guests of honor.

January 2018 

Above and Beyond:

Nancy Raynal

Nancy is always ready and willing to help improve patient care. She changed her schedule to help cover for the Nurses Blitz to ensure that pathology could be present. Whenever something is asked of her she is always positive and a true leader. I am truly inspired by Nancy. Thank you for all that you do!

Saira Ramirez

Saira found a distraught cancer patient in the area of the cancer center radiology on a cold Sunday-1/14. It was closed and lonely so she escorted the gentleman to the radiology department in UH where he dissolved in grateful tears. Thank you for the compassion shown Saira.

Recognition for 2017

December 2017 

Above and Beyond:

Brooke Dougherty Reyes

Brooke Dougherty Reyes has assisted with the submission of many grants in the Department of Pathology and has provided highly competent and efficient service, always with a smile. On December 22, there was a non-traditional grant application that had to be routed through the medical school and another department as well as make it to the NIH by 5pm before the Christmas holiday. Brooke managed to get the grant routed through the medical school and through the other department. However, the application got delayed in the office of research and sponsored programs (ORSP) and did not get submitted to NIH that day. I emailed Brooke on December 26 to let her know the grant was not submitted and she managed to contact ORSP during the seasons days and by Dec 27 the grant was uploaded to the NIH. Brooke was quick to respond to my emails, and efficiently got this done during a time when the entire service was on holiday. She clearly went above and beyond and provided cheerful and excellent customer service! She is an exemplary employee and we are lucky to have her.

November 2017

Above and Beyond:

Jennifer Havas

I would like to nominate Jennifer Havas in the Pathology Satellite Support dept. She has been a lead phlebotomist for years and was recently promoted to Associate Supervisor for the Brighton group. She has tackled her new role with earnestness, energy and dedication. Her organizational skills are phenomenal and it's evident that she wants her team to succeed navigating the waters of complex orders and performing point of care tests, along with phlebotomy of patients of all ages. Jennifer has also participated in assisting other Satellite Support phlebotomy sites, such as dismantling the "old" West Ann Arbor blood draw station and assembling the brand new West Ann Arbor Parkland Plaza' s blood draw lab. She is dividing her time between Parkland Plaza and her own group to further facilitate and streamline operations with new staff at the new site. Suffice to say Jennifer is very much in demand!

Lynn Tague

Lynn is always willing to go above and beyond her daily tasks in the IPOX lab. Recently, while I was on vacation, several challenging obstacles occurred. The problems that were encountered included multiple instrument break downs and several technical issues, all of which were not straightforward to solve. Without being asked by management, Lynn jumped in to investigate the cause of each problem, called service companies for appropriate maintenance, and ensured all antibody technical issues were remedied. She managed all of the problems successfully and it was a job well done. I am very fortunate to have Lynn on my IPOX team and recognition is well-deserved!

Tammi Toth

A patient called specifically to compliment Tammi. The patient said, "I really appreciate her and her work to get my slides to Mayo overnight so they would be there before I got there for my appointment. She took the time to email with the tracking information after she had sent them which allowed me to relax. She made the hard part easier for us to deal with." Tammi goes above and beyond for our patients.

October 2017

Above and Beyond:

Gregory Simmons

I want to nominate Greg for going above and beyond. Our lab (Molecular Diagnostics) utilizes one of HLA's instrument for one of our assays. The instrument went down last week Tuesday 10/10/17. Greg has been in constant communication with us on the progress of the repair and also after the instrument came back up but crashed again. He even drafted a quick guide for our technologists to use when using the instrument. We appreciate Greg's knowledge of the instrument and assisting us with the use of the instrument.

Peter Ouillette

Peter routinely goes to extraordinary lengths to facilitate and educate our evolution toward greater use of digital whole slide images. Recently we had an unusual request - on our Patient and Family Advisors wanted her breast cancer slide available to her as a digital whole slide image. Peter not only accomplished the technical aspects of the job, scanning her slide and figuring out a way to provide her access, but he also contacted her directly to provide personal instruction regarding use of the tool. Here is what she said about his help.

"I want to let you know how grateful I am for all that you have done for me as it relates to understanding Image Scope. After the in-depth lesson today, I see how it can help me in any future presentations. What a great tool! Thank you for creating such great "download" instructions, for scanning in my tumor and loading it into the internet space. And thank you for meeting with me today and spending so much time with me. You are such a great instructor. You made sure that I understood all the tools that I might need to make an impact in my next speech. Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into this. You left no stone unturned.

September 2017 

Above and Beyond:

Nikki Williams

Nikki is a shining light here in autopsy. In my opinion, working in the morgue requires a delicate balance of professionalism, strong work ethic and a cheerful enthusiasm. Nikki embodies ALL of these qualities!
Last week (during a lean staffing situation) Nikki stepped up, after coming off of the midnight shift, to assist her colleague ALL morning with a busy workload and cheerfully stayed until the job was complete. She often times goes above and beyond to be a team player, ALWAYS with a smile!

August 2017  

Amy Drouillard

Amy has developed contacts in the hospital system through her leadership in the Lab Ambassador program. She gave presentations to a number of Nurse Educator forums, to nurses in units and to staff in the Emergency Department to promote the change in blood culture system for microbiology. Amy designed a tip sheet that was utilized as a handout and highlighted the key facts for the new blood culture bottles, draw process and how to affix labels correctly. Many hours, over and above her scheduled hours, were spent to educate staff on the new blood culture system. Amy's diligence and dedication supported a smooth transition to the new blood culture system the was able to assist in providing uninterrupted quality patient care.

July 2017  

Above and Beyond:

 

Anita Kittle, Diane Canepa, and Lori Hufstedler

The transcription team had one staff person on vacation, but three other scheduled staff members were unable to work their shifts. Three transcriptionists - Diane Canepa, Lori Hufstedler, and Anita Kittell - did the work of 7 scheduled staff on a Friday. They communicated, monitored the work load closely and got the work out as quickly as possible. I am proud of their team effort.

Sheri Hugan

Sheri came in to work on a very difficult patient who required rare blood. She came in around 2 am and stayed until around 2 pm, so 12 hours of complicated antibody identification. Sheri went above and beyond to ensure that our patient received the safest blood possible.

Sheri McLelland

Sheri was called in on the 4th of July to perform a CD34 test on a peripheral blood sample that could have waited until the following day. She also stayed to perform the CD34 testing on the stem cell product. The patient was able to receive his results quicker because of her. 

May 2017

Above and Beyond:

Chelsea Decker

Chelsea is a master of multitasking. She can keep it together even on the craziest of days. Last Thursday, Chelsea got called away from grossing to help Room 1 three different times to help with several frozens. During all of this, she was keeping up with loading processors and grossing biopsies in room 2 as best as she could. The lab is very short staffed and Chelsea will help anyway she can with a smile on her face. Chelsea, thank you for keeping our spirits up and keeping the lab running.

Mary Greene

Mary went above and beyond when I had 3 faculty candidates back-to-back, each with appointments to meet Dr. Cho in BSRB. Without being asked, she went through each candidate's itinerary and identified times when she could escort each candidate to their next appointments in the Med School, and she stayed after to help me ensure that each lunch was set up. This was a great help to me and is the perfect example of how we all should work as a team regardless of our lab/unit.

Tammy Kutter

Tammy went above and beyond when I had 3 faculty candidates back-to-back with multiple visits in the Cancer
Center. Without being asked, she went through each candidate's itinerary and identified times when she could escort each candidate to/from different appointments in the Cancer Center. This was a tremendous help to me and is the
perfect example of how we all should work as a team regardless of our lab/unit.

Lydia Sayar

Lydia works in the IPOX lab and has been consistently helping Histology with cutting recuts requests ever since her job change. She works tons of overtime and is constantly busy when she is in the lab. she still manages to keep up with her own job. She has a positive attitude and is a pleasure to work with everyday. Thank you for being a part of our team.

Sally Smith

Sally has always been a wonderful person to work with in Anatomic Pathology: she has a positive attitude no matter the work-load, and she is a knowledgeable resource in terms of accessioning and specimen requirements for so many
throughout the hospital. She has taken on many projects to help improve various processes throughout the Pathology
department. Recently, Sally has taken a new position in the Admin offices where she will do just as amazing, I'm sure. Naturally, when someone who has done so well in a position for a long time leaves, it's difficult to fill their shoes. During this transition period, Sally has gone above and beyond to help out with accessioning whenever she can. She has made a habit of regularly checking in to see if she can help out. This is in addition to training and settling in to her new position in a separate department. Sally is not one to need any sort of recognition or spotlight, but I can think of no one else who deserves it more!

April 2017

Above and Beyond:

David Maki II

I'd like to extend a special thanks and recognition to David because he has helped me solve difficult issues during the
Slide Library Request Tool Application pilot and post go live. He is very easy to work with in person and through all of the application's trials and tests has provided lots of feedback. He has also reported things that went un-noticed or were overlooked by others in the pilot run. It is because of his dedication I was able to produce such a great new product for the AP Specimen Tracking initiatives that will be so ever important for our big move. Thank You David!

Tina Gray

In several instances and on very short notice, Tina was willing to go above and beyond and come in on days off to help with situations that were or could have impacted patient processing. In the first example, the recent SOFT LIS upgrade had serious issues and Tina (who, fortunately for us, unfortunately for her, lives close by) came in on her day off, when called suddenly at 7 am. She provided help with getting patient samples getting ordered, processed and released during the recovery period. She had already stayed over late the night before to help afternoon shift correct a problematic assay so it could be available over night with no issue. On 4/4/17, 1 of our main chemistry analyzers had lamp errors as shift change occurred and it was decided that it could be off until the following day. Unfortunately within an hour another analyzer had a similar issue and having 2 of them down would have impacted patient throughput during the subsequent afternoon and midnight shifts. Tina was called on her day off and again was willing to come in immediately and worked to bring up the down analyzers. As a supervisor, I greatly value and appreciate her efforts and willingness to help with providing a consistent high level of service for our patients.

Melissa Rennells

I have known Melissa for a few years and have always found her to be pleasant and very helpful. Melissa started working in our group in 2015. She is especially skilled with computer programs. Yesterday, Melissa helped someone in the Cancer Center format figures for a manuscript. Here is part of the email she received from the grateful colleague: "Thank you so much for yesterday and helping XXX with formatting the figures for Dr. XXXX manuscript. I don’t know what we would have done without you! We really appreciate you!!! Every time I have a technical question, I know that I can count on you to help and you always do it with such a positive attitude." This sums up Melissa's 'can do' attitude and "above and beyond' work ethic. Melissa is a very valuable member of our group!

Renee Stoklosa

We had an unfortunate situation where a sample made it to Specimen Processing unlabeled, and a recollection was
needed. The sample had to be collected that day. It was needed prior to patient going into labor, and was a Sendout to Mayo Laboratories. Once the problem (and urgency of redraw) identified, Renee had no hesitation in driving 133 miles round trip, working well beyond her normal shift end, to perform a home draw to correct our error. The patient was thankful for the prompt service recovery and the sample made it to the lab on time.

March 2017

Above and Beyond:

Amanda Cook

Over the past two years, the Genetic Testing Resource and Quality Consortium (GTRQC), under the leadership of Dr.
David Keren, developed a software program to aid clinicians in identifying and appropriately referring patients meeting national guidelines for referral for genetic counseling. Amanda has been key in getting this program developed. Amanda was originally hired to provide administrative support to our team, but has proven to be invaluable in our program development. Without any background in genetics or in software development, Amanda successfully learned multiple genetic referral guidelines and translated them into complex algorithms that work flawlessly! She spent countless hours, including nights and weekends, with the programmers to ensure the development of this program meets deadlines and functions appropriately. An entirely new skillset needed to be
learned to make this happen – which she did quickly and cheerfully.
In addition, Amanda has collected, revised and drafted educational materials to populate the resource library for our
product. This required her to find existing materials, obtain consent to use materials, as well as to create new resources for our library. These resources then needed to be linked to the appropriate algorithms. She did so with great dedication, excellent communication skills, and attention to detail. Amanda is now effectively demonstrating our program, InheRET™, to clinicians, to prepare for the launch of this product into the medical community. She is consistently well prepared and well spoken during these presentations. Amanda’s willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done, with a positive, upbeat attitude is refreshing and is key to our success as a team. The entire team functions better because of her efforts. Amanda is the definition of collegiality, professionalism, strong work ethic, dedication and persistence. I can think of no other more deserving of this award.

Andrew Bates

I wanted to send a huge thank you for your great and compassionate work. I received a call from a RN from 8th floor
from a patient that you took care of. I went to the patient to listen to how she felt from you taking care of her. Her words were he was very professional, caring very sensitive and wonderful. You made her experience wonderful and couldn’t thank you enough.

Cortney Brancheau

Cortney Brancheau came in on a Sunday to run a STAT PCRHS and PCRVZ at 5pm even though this was not her
weekend to work.By coming in to work, Cortney was able to give valuable information to the treatment team on a newborn baby. This action was above and beyond and the true meaning of patients first. Well Done Cortney!

John Larock

I want to recognize Johns wonderful patient care effort. He went over a beyond in completing a situation that is abnormal for the phlebotomy team. He was patient, very professional as physicians and RN;s pressured for a draw to be completed that was out of our normal process. He communicated effectively with the staff taking care of the patient and completed the necessary test needed for outstanding care to the patient. Thank you John for continually reaching for the higher comfort for the patient.

Kathryn Gardner

I would like to recognize the efforts of Kathy Gardner, lead phlebotomist at the Dexter Blood Draw laboratory, on March 23, 2017. A provider unwittingly informed a patient to collect a C. difficile sample at the Dexter clinic (we strongly encourage home collection) just at closing time. The patient was directed to the clinic's designated restroom to collect a fresh sample, which then requires staff (usually clinic medical assistants) to disinfect. Also, two patients appeared after the 5 pm closing time for blood work as well. Kathy cheerfully drew their blood and then volunteered to disinfect the clinic restroom following the C. diff protocol, which does take a fair amount of time to ensure adequate disinfection. Kathy did not want to leave the restroom "closed" over night for the day crew to clean in the
am. She took it upon herself to perform this undesirable task, which is not part of her work duties. Kathy accommodated the late clinic patients whose provider appointments ran over and also this patient in GI distress. Kudos, Kathy!

Kristin Leseuer

I would like to nominate Kristin LeSueur, who is a Clinical Technologist Senior with the Michigan Medical Genetics
Laboratories (MMGL). I am nominating her because, despite the MMGL technically being part of the Department of
Pediatrics, Kristin has taken on the responsibility of the Chairperson of the Pathology Safety Committee and has gone
above and beyond to fill the gap created by Suzanne Butch's retirement when it comes to providing our labs with guidance and direction so that we follow safe laboratory practices to protect our employees and patients. Kristin has done this on top of her laboratory responsibilities. I personally appreciate her dedication to ensuring safety is a top priority of the University of Michigan laboratories.

Michele Mcgee

We recently switched platforms for one of our molecular assays, and we were not sure on how to dispose of the many
reagents and waste products. As it turned out, we had a lot of research and planning and to do in order to be compliant. Michele McGee serves as a safety officer for our department. When we approached her with the waste disposal situation she was already spending endless hours preparing for CAP and working the bench. She addressed the issue as if it was of the highest importance and diligently worked on it every day until the disposal process was in place. The icing on the cake is that Michele's personality shines every day no matter what challenges come her way. She is an incredible asset to our team.

Michelle Runyon

Michelle Runyon is a phlebotomist that usually works in Taubman blood draw. When the Cardiovascular Center lab
took ill and half their staff was out Michelle stepped up to help out the unit with such a great attitude and great team work ethic it was such an inspiration to everyone and she did so as if she worked there everyday. It was such a wonderful experience for both staff and patients to have her there and I wanted to let her know how much I appreciate her for that!

February 2017

Above and Beyond:

Kaelynn Williams

Kaelynn went above and beyond by tracking down which clients/clinics/offices were still sending urine in cups for chlamydia/GC testing. Microbiology switched platforms for STI testing in August 2016. This switch involved different transport media for specimens. Microbiology now requires that urine be sent in the correct Aptima transport instead of in sterile urine cups. Kaelynn personally called the majority of the locations that are sending urine cups. She tried to speak with supervisors, lead MAs, or RNs. If she could not speak with anyone that could implement the change, She asked for the supervisors name and informed whomever she was speaking with that this change is coming, but more details will be provided in an email to their supervisors.
Bravo to Kaelynn for going above and beyond to implement the final change over to the new transports for testing.

Jennifer Mattison, Nikko Thomas, Penny Patton, Kristine Acker, Brittany Deboer, Donna Thayer, Cheri Brown, Todd Pollard

I would like to recognize the entire billing team for their efforts in 2016. It is the first time ever in the last 7 years that billing was completed by year end. Everyone works so hard and stays on task to achieve daily goals and it has really paid off this year. We look forward to this billing team to do great things for our clients and patients in the coming years.

Nancy Fritzemeier

Nancy has been a positive force of nature. She goes the extra mile, literally, to meet the needs of her staff, incorporating everyone in the decisions which affect their environment, and finding creative ways to solve problems which crop up. She is not afraid to step in and do the work, which shows her staff that she does not think that she is more important than they are. Finally, she is an able mediator between staff and faculty; a sometimes fine line that can easily be blurred. It is difficult work managing such a large variety of personalities, responsibilities, and locations.

January 2017

Above and Beyond:

Brian Royer and Chris Sobeck

Brian and Chris have been a big help with the AP Service Calendar on our internal website. Recently, the AP office purchased a new automated scheduling system called Qgenda. While this system does make our jobs easier, it would be useless if rest of the department could not view it. Brian and Chris worked diligently on a tight timeline to make the schedule accessible to all pathology. In addition they have been there, day in and day out, to add updates to the new system and fix minor glitches. I am very thankful for the time they took to explain complicate technical details, the extreme care they took making sure important and specific schedule details were displayed and the overall time they put toward making this project a success.

David Austin

During the holiday weeks, David was the only desktop support working. He single-handedly moved 16 workstations, making sure everyone had everything they needed to do their job. He came up with solutions to workspace issues as we swapped work areas. I always rely on David to help us out - he thinks things through and gets the job done quickly. I appreciate David every day!

Ellen Sweeso

Yesterday, January 5, an OB patient arrived at the Brighton Health Center MLab blood draw station minutes after the lab closed. (The lab follows the clinic holiday hours, which are modified for two weeks--8 am to 5pm). The patient had already drunk the glucola and was due to be drawn at 5:38 pm. (She was told that Brighton lab was open to 7 pm, which is true except for last week and this week.) Ellen volunteered to stay late to draw the patient and then centrifuge the sample. The patient was spared from having to drink the glucola again at a later date. The patient thanked Ellen. I am thankful as well that Ellen did not mind staying after her scheduled shift to accommodate this person. Kudos, Ellen!

Jackie Munro

The MLabs office would like to Recognize Jackie Munro for her excellent Customer Service she provided to Dr. J.W. Lee from Hello Med. Dr. Lee called looking for results on a specimen, but the order was accessioned incorrectly so Jackie was unable to bring up the order. Jackie was very patient, friendly and helpful and demonstrated the exceptional customer service that MLabs strives to provide. Mlabs would like to express our appreciation and gratitude for upholding MLabs reputation. It's very much appreciated.

 

Recognition for 
2016

December 2016

Above and Beyond:

Jackie Goodman

I would like to nominate Jackie Goodman because she has always been an outstanding team player no matter the situation she is presented with. It's a pleasure to have her as a resource in the MLabs office because she has worked for U of M for close to 30 years, and there isn't a question for me that she has been unable to answer. Jackie is very personable, and the clients have nothing but excellent things to say about working with her. I would like to recognize her because she is always available even outside of normal business hours to assist with difficult calls, and her office is always open. Thank you Jackie!

Linda Lapsley

Linda Lapsley has shown great dedication throughout her career to teaching her co-workers how to be great Microbiologists. She has consistently shared information and directed her colleagues to resources that result in accurate resulting of patient's Microbiology test specimens. She is
always willing to help a co-worker "do the right thing". She has recently been coming to work on afternoon shift to work with our newer staff's training. She has cheerfully done this for many weeks. I feel very comfortable that the next generation of Microbiology technologists in our clinical lab will have a solid foundation of knowledge. They will also be very well versed in problem solving. Thank you Linda!

November 2016

Above and Beyond:

Matt Heilbronn

During the Thanksgiving holiday 11/24/2016, we had an infant patient that needed a work up (bone marrow), since it was a holiday and on offshift, no one was working who knows how to do bone marrow. Matt offered to be on call and eventually came in to help the doctors do the bone marrow procedure. He was supposed to meet his family for a Thanksgiving dinner but missed the dinner and came in to work. I applaud his dedication and compassion to go above and beyond his duty.

 

October 2016

Above and Beyond:

Carol Young, Connie Brenke and Michelle Centi

I was working last week with Connie Brenke and Michelle Centi to help us get some more answers. The sample that we sent on 8/17 was contaminated culture media from an IVF cycle. We have still not been able to determine the source of the contamination. The couple had used frozen anonymous donor sperm and we could not rule that out as being the source. We had them send another vial of the same donor and I sent a small sample over to you on 9/7/16. It has also tested positive for enterococcus faecalis. Thanks to all of your help over there we may possibly have just saved the university a lot of money , avoided a law suit and saved me a whole bunch of time with risk management. Please send along our thanks to everyone! 

Teresa Thomas

A woman was choking on a piece of candy in the lab/radiology waiting room. Our phlebotomist, Teresa Thomas, used her CPR training from UMHS and was able to dislodge the candy by using the Heimlich maneuver. Thank you for your quick action, Teresa! 

Marie Brady

Marie quietly goes about her work without any complaints or drama. Recently she covered 4 jobs, trained a temp, and kept everything moving for a week. Our clerical staff in AP are already asked to do the job of 2 people every day, and then we ask her to do the job of 6 - this just shows what a great employee she is and how valuable she is to our department. I am so happy to have her on our team!

 

 

September 2016

Above and Beyond:

Terrance McBryde

Terrance is always willing to help out and specially when something out of the ordinary is needed. On August 29, 2016 we were in process of training a new employee how to perform a fungal blood culture. I noticed the Isolator instrument was broke. After taking a look at it, Terrance said "this part here is the problem." He proceeded to take it apart, find the right tools and fix it. Bravo! I had asked Bio Med once before to fix our old one. I ended up buying a new one. Terrance is a wonderful employee that I am so lucky to have in Microbiology.

Christine Distelrath

Christine creates a warm and festive environment for her fellow coworkers (Phlebotomy team). Christine has a way of brightening up our office (which is pretty drab) by bringing in nice handmade center pieces for every occasion. She decorates the office space and on any given day she sets out bowls of candies and goodies for the staff. She does all of this out of her own pocket. Her special designs and goodies brings a smile and a sense of delight to the team. I have come to look forward to what she will do next and I refer to her as our personal Martha Steward. :) These are very stressful times for our team as we are working extremely hard and with little staffing. Her efforts, generosity and attempts at bringing cheer is deeply appreciated 

Ashley Powers

Ashley is a very sharp person. She learns fast and gets her work done quickly and very well. Today she had finished her work and took it upon herself to update several job aids. Ashley made three new improved, colored, and laminated job aids to help our staff with common questions. This is the kind of task that is usually on the Sr. Techs \"TO DO\" pile. It's really refreshing to get some creative help. Thanks!

August 2016

Above and Beyond:

Jeanette Jeffreys

For 13 weeks while MLabs' administrative assistant was out on an extended leave, Jeanette provided me with administrative support- specifically with the timely processing and payment of our vendor invoices. She volunteered her help graciously and I really appreciated the support she provided. She has a tremendous team attitude and should be recognized for all that she does for others. 

Jiong Yang

Jiong volunteered to cover the entire New Year's weekend (Sat-Mon) and holiday in addition to his assigned Thanksgiving weekend and holiday (Thurs-Sun). Jiong volunteers to stay well past his regularly scheduled hours to assist his co-works in completing their work. He is reliable as he is helpful and regularly goes above and beyond. 

July 2016

Above and Beyond:

Christopher Smith

Chris identified that there were boxes and equipment stored at the Corrigan Storage facility that were no longer needed. This unnecessary storage costs the department and he began the effort to identify what boxes could be securely destroyed. There is still an ongoing process of reviewing the mass amount of materials at this location, however to date Chris helped save the department ~$3120 per year.

June 2016

Above and Beyond:

Following from Blood Bank all involved in the same nomination going Above and Beyond we recognize each one:

Amy Clevinger

Brooke Boone

Christine Abrham

David Rohrkemper

Heywyada Dari

Jennifer Bodary

John Demeter

Krystal Johnson

Meredith Hoag

Sheri Hugan

Susan Long

Terri Tallmadge 

From 6/3/16-6/5/16, several unusual requests happened in the Blood Bank that do no usually occur on a weekend. Staff went above and beyond the call of duty to take care of the patients. Sheri Hugan came in on Sunday (her day off) to assist on a PUBs procedure. Susan Long made the PUBs special unit. Mer Hoag and Jennifer Bodary assisted with finding and testing a suitable unit for the PUBs. Another patient was receiving rare blood units and several techs assisted with getting the units in and ready for the patient - Mike Byars, Li Yang, Susan Long. Another patient needed granulocytes. This is such a special product that requires very special handling- Li Yang, Cody Demeter, Brooke Boone, Tina Abrham. In addition, other staff in the lab supported the blood bank by doing all the other work while these techs took care of the very special products - Deb Cooper, Heywyda Dari, David Rohrkemper, Amy Clevenger, Terri Tallmadge and Krystal Johnson.  

Chester Rolka

Chet was incredibly proactive in his management and communication regarding a patient with a difficult blood match needing an emergency ablation. He communicated throughout the morning to keep the physician updated with the status of the blood products. The patient was able to have their procedure with blood products on hand. The communication effort allowed the physician to schedule the best time for the procedure.  

Heywyda Dari

Heywyda was incredibly proactive in her management and communication regarding a patient with a difficult blood match needing an emergency ablation. She communicated throughout the morning to keep the physician updated with the status of the blood products. The patient was able to have their procedure with blood products on hand. The communication effort allowed the physician to schedule the best time for the procedure.  

Michelle Clark

Michele Clark is trained on the majority of the benches in Specimen Processing. In the recent months it has been necessary for Michele to move bench to bench, work on one bench several days in the week, cover benches that are physically strenuous (when performed repeatedly)and she has done this with a smile or her face and without complaint. This has helped to maintain the work flow for the patients and her coworkers. I want to recognize Michele for going above and beyond to assist her coworkers and her supervisors. Thank You Michele! 

March 2016

Above and Beyond:

Mary (Beth) Lawless

There have been a series of acts over the last few weeks where Beth has demonstrated a willingness to go above and beyond. She has put a trememdous amount of effort into managing a complex clinical situation with renal transplant docs as they work out their comfort level with different sendout assays for BK virus. This has required collecting lots of data, and duplicating lots of effort, but she has shown a great deal of leadership and patience with everyone in the process. In addition, with the Zika virus and Norovirus outbreaks that occurred concurrently, Beth put in a tremendous amount of effort insuring that the appropriate logistical workflows were implemented and information was communicated effectively to her team. Since each of these situation were very dynamic, and the information changed frequently, she had to maintain flexibility and model that behavior to her staff. I can tell you that the level of service provided by pathology during each of these events has been very high and I have received multiple compliments from clinicians in this regard. I want to thank Beth for continuing to be able to handle everything that I throw at her!

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 February 2016

Above and Beyond:

Terri Bruce

Terri validated thermotron drying chamber to prepare oncology chromosome slides successfully, has trained four (out of four) co-workers to use it consistently and will keep training the rest of the group. Thermotron has been idele in the Cytogenetic lab for many years; the lab has been using a cold room to prepare slides. Terri worked diligently on different combinations of temperature and humidity, and was able to find an optimal one. She also optimized trypsin and staining time for slides prepared within Thermotron. The successful validation of Thermotron eliminates the technologists exposure to acetic acid and methanol while prepareing slides. It also results in consistent slide quality and saves a significant amount of time.

 

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 Employee Recognition History

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2015