Andree Havens was named employee of the year and Cliff Stark was selected manager of the year at Texas County Memorial Hospital’s 26th annual employee appreciation program Friday night.
Havens, a certified nurse assistant in the medical surgical department, was the November employee of the month. An employee of TCMH for 12 years, Havens is known for her willingness to work wherever she’s needed.
“Andree has a heart of gold and great compassion for her patients,” said Doretta Todd-Willis, TCMH chief nursing officer. “She is highly dedicated to TCMH.”
“The employee of the year award is a great honor because it’s chosen by your peers,” said Wes Murray, TCMH chief executive officer. “It’s obvious that our employees recognize the huge impact that someone like Andree has in working with patients and staff.”
Murray noted that a CNA’s job is a hard one that may not be fully appreciated by someone that doesn’t do the job every day.
“Andree’s job is a difficult one, but she comes to work every day with the right attitude,” Murray said.
The honor is limited to the individuals named employee of the month since the 2007 employee awards ceremony. All employees are allowed to vote for the honor in a secret ballot vote.
The administrative team at TCMH chose Stark, the information technology director at the hospital, as manager of the year.
“There isn’t a single person in the hospital that gets called as much as Cliff,” said Murray. “He is available 24/7, 365 days a year.”
Todd-Willis, member of the administrative team, said Stark often gets out of bed in the middle of the night to come in and stays as long as he’s needed.
“Cliff has a great, positive attitude,” said Linda Pamperien, TCMH chief financial officer, noting that Stark is “always willing to go the extra mile without complaining.”
Stark, a resident of Raymondville, reports to Murray. Stark has been a director at the hospital since 2004.
In the time that Stark has worked at TCMH, the hospital has added electronic medical records in the hospital and clinics as well as other technology such as the picture archiving and communications system in radiology. Stark oversees all of the technology at TCMH, and the hospital has received national recognition from peer groups for the technological capabilities available at the local hospital.
“Early this year, Cliff deepened his commitment and attitude toward his position,” Murray said. “He realized how vital he was to our organization, and he made a choice to become a better manager and IT director. “
Murray noted that Stark even changed his daily work wardrobe to better reflect himself in his position.
“Nobody asked Cliff to change his approach to his position,” Murray said. “Cliff raised the bar with his own expectations for his job and has never looked back.”
The manager of the year and the employee of the year were honored with an engraved plaque, $500 cash, pin and a day of paid time off.
Also during the program, Murray and Omanez Fockler, chairperson of the TCMH board of trustees, recognized several employees with service awards.
Five years of service: Christine Brazier; Myrtle Brown; Debra Buckle; Sherry Canterbury; Monica Champon; Steve Lake; Murray; Katrina Ogden; Marlon Richison; and Michael Stearnes.
Ten years of service: Tim Howell; Patty Neal; Dana Ott; Margie Smith; Lisa Steelman; Chris Weaver; and Kim Whanger.
Fifteen years of service: Joanne Bradshaw; Shannon Bridges; Cristy Buckner; Paula Corl; Pat Davenport; Dr. Stephen Hawkins; Michelle Jenkins; Charlotte Lands; Jerry Pursifull; Judy Rupe; Cathy Stilley; Jo Stout; Vanessa White; and Tony Young.
Also recognized: Kim Briggs, 20 years; C.J. Smith and Kelly Young, 25 years; Michele Akers and Linda Hall, 30 years; and Karen Gaines, 40 years.
New to this year’s award ceremony, the TCMH Customer Quality Team honored two employees that exemplified excellent customer service in the hospital organization in 2008. Howard Hughes, floor maintenance in the housekeeping department, and Brenda Cooper, an LPN in the medical surgical department, received the honor.
Hughes and Cooper were each awarded a plaque for their efforts and given a quarter of a side of beef donated by Bill and Olga Senter of Plato.
The Customer Quality Team also recognized the TCMH housekeeping department as “Customer Service Department of the Year.” The housekeeping department has consistently scored well on patient satisfaction surveys in 2008, ranking above all other hospital departments, while continuing to try to improve the quality of the service provided by the department.
TCMH also gave out numerous door prizes to hospital employees at the event. About 300 people, including 175 employees, attended the program at Faith Fellowship in Houston