Excela Insight: Employee of the Month

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Breakfast Recap When the 2018 Employees of the Month and their guests entered the breakfast venue, they didn’t expect to be met by a pile of “trash”. Each guest grabbed objects from the pile – newspapers, Penguins merchandise, party horns, and more – and sat down at a table. Before breakfast, they were asked to build an object with their trash. Groups grabbed tape and scissors and crafted ‘treasures’ such as robots, airplanes, trees and pets. Each group presented their treasure to the room. They didn’t disappoint. From a glowing tree house to an Alexa that “actually spoke,” each individual helped solve a puzzling problem, which, as Laurie English said, is what Excela employees accomplish every day at work. During breakfast, employees admired one another’s sculptures. Afterward, English retold the stories of each employee of the month and what situations he or she managed and overcame in order to be recognized by peers.

Congratulations to all of our employees of the month! Don’t forget to redeem your points on the Points of Pride platform: https://www.appreciatehub.com/excela

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2018 Honorees Sarah Addis, Advanced Wound Center; Harry Blank, Facilities Management; Courtney Boord, Excela Health Medical Group; Margaret Chockla, Nursing; Olivia Clark, Emergency Department; Diane Davis, Emergency Department; Alexa Dawson, Emergency Department; Roberta Dombrosky, Pharmacy; Tara Elkin, Imaging Services; Hanaa Ewis, Food and Nutrition Services; Chris Forsha, Safety Services; Martin Fry, Respiratory Care Services; David Geiger, Excela Health Medical Group; Davi Groff, Laboratory; Robin Handford, Respiratory Care Services; Richard Henry, Imaging Services; Barbara Husband, Imaging Services; Jessica Jeffries, Nuclear Medicine; Diana Johnson, Laboratory; Darla Kasiewicz, Environmental Services; Jessica Kovacs, Respiratory Care Servies; Zachary Kowalewski, Nursing; Monica Krinock, Nursing; Elizabeth Labish, Nursing; Ethel Linsenbigler, Environmental Services; Theresa MacBlane, Nursing; Megan Neary, Pharmacy; Constance Nedrow, Imaging Services; Robin Palmer Augustine, Emergency Department; Megan Petro, Imaging Services; Rina Piper, Nursing; Jessica Roebuck, Imaging Services; Christine Shaffer, Central Scheduling; John Sipple, Imaging Services; Glenn Toth, Respiratory Care Services; Jamie Upton, Excela Health Medical Group, and Sarah Vanderelli, IP Wound Care

Employees of the Year At the yearly Employee of the Month breakfast, five individuals are recognized as Employees of the Year. This title is earned by those who demonstrates exemplary attributes associated with our five pillars: Safety, Productivity, Qality, Human Development, and Growth and Margin. Each employee of the year is chosen from the past year’s Employees of the Month, and they are presented with a Points of Pride gold award to recognize their dedication to Excela's core values. Congratulations to this year's five awardees! Does one of your coworkers demonstrate any of these qualities? Be sure to nominate them for employee of the month!

Safety: Chris Forsha Chris Forsha was headed to the Otterman Street warehouse to look for ED beds when he witnessed an unsafe situation. A two-year-old child was running through an alley, calling for his mother. Chris didn’t see the parents anywhere. Suddenly, the child turned and bolted out into Depot Street, running down the hill. The Westmoreland Hospital Safety Services member called to the child, who was now down at Hose Company #6. The child stopped running and turned to Chris, who immediately brought him out of harm’s way without causing him to panic. Chris talked to the two-year-old to gain his trust and tried to find out where he lived.

When his efforts failed, he took the child back to the Westmoreland Hospital Security Department, where they followed up with the Greensburg police. Chris’s quick-thinking and calm attitude in a dangerous situation may have saved the child’s life.

Productivity: Ethel Linsenbigler Ethel demonstrates efficiency in her department and in Westmoreland Hospital as a whole.

Her attentiveness to people’s needs throughout the hospital goes beyond the duties that her job entails. An example of this is when the hospital’s hot water system was out of service for repairs, which caused difficulty in providing baths for daily patient care. The Environmental Services employee helped technical partners on 1D get and carry warm water for patients’ baths. On another occasion, Ethel noticed a visibly weary visitor walking in 1D’s hall to visit a patient. She immediately got a wheelchair for the visitor and wheeled the person to the patient’s room. Ethel’s active presence in the workplace is what earned her the productivity award this year.

Quality: Diana Johnson Performing even the smallest tasks with excellence comes as second nature to Diana. The Frick Hospital laboratory employee saw an elderly patient park in front of the employee entrance near the emergency department. He had trouble walking and was trying to find easy access to the building.She went outside and directed the patient to the appropriate handicapped parking spot. When Diana learned the patient needed a transfusion, she guided him from his car into the SPU, walking at his slow pace. The man had a cane, and the short walk took several minutes. As a Blood Bank staffer, Diana knows the life-giving importance of this treatment for the patient and his vulnerability. Her assistance to a person in need is a shining example of quality patient care.

Human Development: Theresa MacBlane Improving the health and well-being of every life we touch is Excela’s mission, and Teri takes this motto to heart. This Latrobe Hospital nurse was caring for a terminally ill patient and showed extraordinary compassion to his wife of 65 years. The woman did not leave her husband’s bedside for several days, so Teri knew she needed added comfort and companionship. Teri provided the patient’s wife with various necessities, even taking her clothes home to wash overnight so she wouldn’t have to leave her husband’s bedside.

Because of Teri, the woman didn’t have to leave the hospital or the room during this most critical time in her life.

Growth and Margin: Rina Piper Rina regularly responds to emergency codes in units that are not her own. This Latrobe Hospital 3North nurse offers support and guidance as well as another set of helping hands when needed. Rina’s supportiveness affects not only the department in which she works, but the entire health system, as her leadership qualities help the hospital succeed in its response to emergency situations. When there was a Code Blue in EPIC, Rina was the one who started the IV that provided access to medication. Rina has not only the patient’s well-being in mind, but also Excela as a whole, as she fights for success in every emergency to which she can respond.