In the early afternoon of May 4, Washakie Medical Center staff quickly gathered in the facility's cafeteria to honor two individuals selected as recipients of annual awards given to outstanding employees of the hospital.

Chief Financial Officer Jennifer McMillan began the brief ceremony by announcing Environmental Services Manager Landon Wood as the Leader of the Year. She said, "He is innovative and dedicated to pushing his team to a greater level of service every day, and he finds ways to make work and daily educational opportunities fun and engaging. He meets with his staff daily and monthly without fail to review workflow, provide reminders and announcements, explain changes, assign special projects and educate."

She added, "He educates on patient experience, banner behaviors, chemical training, policies and procedures and anything else that pertains to EVS or how to be a good banner employee. His team looks forward to their monthly meetings. He regularly rounds on his team to give recognition of strengths while also addressing areas where personal professional improvement is needed, and he tirelessly works to equip each employee with personalized goals for them to be their best and give their best."

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

Assistant Director Brandy Kottman presented Nurse Roseanne De La Rosa with the Employee of the Year Award. Kottman said, "Roseanne exemplifies nursing excellence; she's truly an amazing nurse, colleague and friend. She always strives to provide excellent patient center care, not only caring for patients and their medical needs, but also providing emotional support and care to patients and their families."

She continued, "Roseanne is smart, caring, empathetic and knowledgeable. She is a source of guidance for her coworkers and she is always willing to lend a helping hand where needed. She never appears overwhelmed; she just goes with the flow handling issues as they come. She is described by her coworkers as being the calm in the storm. Thank you for all you do."

Chief Nursing Officer Lisa Van Brunt then spoke to those in attendance before they stood up to get some cake. Van Brunt thanked everyone for attending, saying how "this is a time of year we are doing a lot of celebrations. It's great to be able to recognize the talent that we have here."