KishHealth System presented awards of excellence at its annual Employee Recognition Dinner held recently at NIU’s Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center.

The awards included five Pillar Awards recognizing employees, teams, or departments for demonstrated achievement toward the organizational goals of service, people, quality, finance and growth; the top Can-Do Attitude recipient; and the Karen Sepaniak KHS Spirit Award, which is akin to employee of the year.

The Spirit Award recognizes an employee who exemplifies professionalism, responsibility, positive attitude, communication, and service to others. Karen Sepaniak was the first recipient of this award two years ago, initially called the Standards of Behavior Award. She died of cancer in July 2007 after working nearly 40 years at Valley West Community Hospital in Sandwich. The award was renamed to celebrate and honor the woman who knew how to do things only by going “above and beyond.”

Patrick Busch, System Analyst, Information Systems Department, received the Spirit Award.

“Our winner sets the standard for five-star customer service,” said Heath Bell, vice president and chief information officer. “He exudes a consistent, unwavering positive attitude no matter the situation, and is a tremendous influence on co-workers.”

The Kishwaukee Community Hospital Medical/Surgical Unit Team received the Service Pillar Award, which incorporates all aspects of customer service.

“The performance of the Medical Surgical Unit Team tells a story of setting goals, integrating behaviors to drive results, and building skills—all with a determined focus on impacting their patients’ experiences at our hospital,” said Cheryl Fisher, assistant vice president of patient care services.

Kish Hospital’s Food and Nutrition Services also received the Service Pillar Award.

“As they rolled out a brand new process for our patients, At Your Request Room Service—which has been a tremendous patient satisfier, they also focused on improvements in the café. This team has achieved results and earns smiles from everyone they serve,” said Fisher.

Kish Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit received the Quality Pillar Award, which encompasses goals that focus on creating a safe, clinically strong and effective environment for patients and staff, and excellence in practice.

“The Intensive Care Unit has found a way to do all those things through teamwork, education, and collaboration with physicians. The result is a high functioning, patient-focused team with a sincere commitment to quality care and the promotion of positive patient outcomes,” said Pamela Duffy, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer.

Lisa Ackland, director of Kish Hospital’s Surgical Services, received the People Pillar Award, which focuses on making KishHealth System a great place to work by the way people are treated.

“Lisa’s leadership approach is person-centered—be it the patient, the family, her staff, or the physicians,” said Mark Thate, director of Human Resources.

Kish and Valley West Community Hospital’s Continuity of Care and Social Services Departments received the Finance Pillar Award, which incorporates goals that focus on operating margins, productivity, supply costs, and revenue.

“In their day to day operations, this team works closely with physicians, staff and family to determine appropriate treatment, level of care, progression of care, and timely discharge. Members of this team show compassion and skill to have tough conversations with patients and families about major lifestyle changes or end of life decisions. They facilitate multidisciplinary rounds and care conferences to keep promote communication and efficiency, which manages both the cost and quality of the patient’s care,” said Loren Foelske, vice president of finance.

Kish Hospital’s Interventional Lab staff received the Growth Pillar Award, for exemplifying key attributes required for expansion and enhancement of services. Such attributes include vision, knowledge of the industry and standards for best practices, commitment to quality, team work, training, education and an ability to work among departments and services to allow for a patient-centered approach in development of the service.  

“Building off of the identified community need, this service developed and implemented critical pathways to accommodate three new service lines: interventional radiology, cardiac catheterization, and cardiac electrophysiology. They worked collaboratively with new physicians and all hospital departments to integrate these service lines into the Kish Hospital daily operations. This team put in many, many hours of training and skill development to assure the highest quality of care and readiness for emergencies,” said Joe Dant, vice president of business development.

The Can-Do Attitude Award recognizes individuals for their commitment to patients and co-workers. To be the Can-Do Attitude winner, one must have received the most nominations for going “above and beyond.”

The recipient of the most Can-Do Attitude nominations was Erin Barringer, Valley West chef.

“In reading Erin’s Can-Do Attitude stories, the words consistently used to describe her are ‘very helpful,’ ‘patient advocate,’ ‘great team player,’ ‘thoughtful,’ ‘funny,’ ‘kind,’ and ‘always willing,’ said Mike Muzzillo, vice president of Valley West operations.

More information about KishHealth System can be found online at www.kishhealth.org.