HOSPITAL WEEK EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION CEREMONY

The first National Hospital Day was established in the year 1921 by President Warren G. Harding as an attempt to inspire community members to support hospitals after the Spanish flu outbreak in 1918. The devastating epidemic killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide, including more than 675,000 Americans. He picked May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, to honor the famed nurse who set initial standards for hospital quality during the Crimean War of 1854.

In 1953, National Hospital Day was changed to National Hospital Week. National Hospital Week is an opportunity to highlight our hospitals, health systems, and health care workers and the innovative ways they are supporting and connected to their community.

National Hospital Week and National Nurses week is May 6th through May 14th. The theme for hospital week is “Prepared to Care” and for Nurses week “A Vision for the Future.” It was decided that this year we would focus on “Caring for our staff” and Caring for our community.”

We have had a fun filled week with a lot of activity to show appreciation for our staff and community. For our staff we have had daily drawings for fun prizes, fun meals throughout the week, crossword puzzles, and popcorn daily!! For our community we have had daily baskets they can win through our Facebook site that our departments worked on, as well as helping with Meals on Wheels this week, sponsoring meals at the Senior dining center, and collecting for the local food shelf.

We sent a survey to our staff to vote for employees that have went above and beyond for MCMC and shown excellence in their work.

Nurse of the Year – Daryl Johnson, Paula VanDyke and Mary Mesner.

Mary, Daryl, and Paula are recognized as this year’s Nurse of the Year Award recipients. This award acknowledges a nurse who shows exceptional leadership in supporting and demonstrating how we live our nursing values in our daily professional practice. They use their clinical leadership and skills in their daily practice and contribute to the broader community in an outstanding manner. The qualities shown by this employee includes teamwork, advocacy of Murray County Medical Center as well as an advocate for their patients, a leader in their day to day lives, compassionate, empathetic, and dedicated to caring for others.

Distinguished Leadership – Monica Van Otterloo

Monica is recognized as this year’s Distinguished Leadership Award recipient. This award acknowledges an employee whose individual and collaborative efforts demonstrate integrity, mentorship, positivity, and success of their department and the facility. This person is dedicated, reliable, and inspiring to others. This individual provides employees with the tools they need to succeed, effectively communicates with others, is innovative, and continuously looks for ways to improve and grow as a leader.

Clinician of the year – Paige Freeman

Paige is recognized as this year’s Clinician of the Year Award recipient. This award acknowledges a provider who exemplifies extraordinary clinical practice, leadership, compassion, teamwork, and delivers a high standard and quality of care to our patients. This individual is dedicated to Murray County Medical Center, passionate about our community, sets an example for other providers and employees, and plays a key role in the success and growth of our facility.

Commitment to Teamwork – Brian Peterson and Kim Olafson

Brian and Kim are recognized as this year’s Commitment to Teamwork Award recipients. This award acknowledges an employee who is always willing to go above and beyond to help others. This person is dedicated, reliable, selfless, and exhibits flexibility in their job duties to ensure that others have assistance when needed. This individual is committed to ensuring our facility succeeds. Our MCMC team could not achieve its goals and provide high quality, safe care, and excellent customer service without this individual.

Employee Excellence – Kim Olafson and Cassidy Paulzine

Kim and Cassidy are recognized as this year’s Employee Excellence Award recipients. This award acknowledges an employee who has been outstanding in their performance of job duties. This person regularly exceeds expectations, promotes positivity in the workplace, motivates and works well with others, is reliable, loyal, hard-working, and respected by others. This individual incorporates our mission and values into their work every day, finds ways to continuously improve and achieve goals, prioritizes safety, and sets an example for all.