CMC Names Employees of the Year
1/15/2019
Carlsbad Medical Center recently named Wanda Winderlanahan, RN 2018 Employee of the Year, Wendy Ricer, PT, DPT as Clinical Director of the Year and Melissa Suggs as Non-Clinical Director of the Year. The awards are the highest honors bestowed on a hospital employee each year.
“Health care requires a special blend of great people skills, tireless energy and the ability to work well under pressure,” says Carlsbad Medical Center CEO Cathy Hibbs. “People who work in health care share the common desire to help others and make a difference in people’s lives. It’s a pleasure to recognize our employees for their dedication to our patients, and to providing outstanding care.”
Employees are chosen for the awards by the CMC leadership team, with feedback from their peers, based on their commitment to patient care, their professionalism, and their contributions on the job.
Ricer has been a leader at CMC since 2010, and her primary duties include directing, coordinating, organizing, and implementing all necessary functions to admit and care for patients in the Transitional Care and Inpatient Rehabilitation Units. She goes above and beyond daily by assisting nursing in a variety ways including leadership, staffing, and service recovery. She has the respect of her staff, peers, and senior leadership. According to Ricer’s supervisor, she works tirelessly each and every day looking for patients who have been transferred to other facilities requiring higher level of care, to bring them back to Carlsbad for transitional care and rehab needs. While this helps maintain financial stability and growth in her areas, her true heart is to keep Carlsbad patients in Carlsbad. Her focus is always on the patient and their families. In addition, she was able to reduce patient falls by 40%, earning CMC a quality improvement award from the New Mexico Hospital Association.
Suggs has been with CMC since 2008, and as the Director of Marketing she is responsible for assisting Carlsbad Medical Center and Pecos Valley Physician Groups to grow in market share, community image, awareness and profitability by coordinating strategic planning efforts for the facility and by implementing strategic marketing, advertising, public relations and media relations initiatives. She also oversees community outreach events such as various health screenings and health fairs, and programs such as Senior Circle and Healthy Woman, in addition to serving as Volunteer Coordinator for the past three years. Her hard work and dedication led to CMC receiving the 2017 Community Investment award from the Carlsbad Department of Development. Most recently, her efforts in advertising and community awareness have played a crucial role in the successful launch of new service lines such as Pain Management, Pulmonology, Urgent Care, ENT and Wound Care.
Winderlanahan has been a valuable part of the CMC team since 2008. As the informatics nurse, her “customers” span from local leadership to clinical staff, physicians and information technology. She is always willing to help in any way she can while servicing all of her customers in a timely and professional manner. She is detailed focused and takes great pride in her work with a focus on evidence-based practice ensuring patients receive the best possible care via the Electronic Medical Records system and Meaningful Use measures. Described as “irreplaceable” by her supervisor, Winderlanahan also serves as the liaison with our local nursing school and ensures their clinical experience is the best it can be, which is one of the many reasons she was chosen as Employee of the Month in September 2018 and other times throughout her years at CMC, and now the Employee of the Year for 2018.
Service awards were also recently presented to both CMC and Pecos Valley Physician Group employees at CMC’s annual awards ceremony.
Several employees were recognized for their long-time dedication. Charla Grice, Medical Technologist from the Laboratory/Pathology Department, was honored for an outstanding 40 years of service, Elva Villa was honored for 35 years, and Jamie Duncan, Curtis Wickenkamp and Rebecca Ybaben were honored for 30 years of service.
Receiving 25 year pins were Diane Willis, Deanna Burdine and Gina Zuniga, and 20 year pins were presented to Gladys Darling, Faye Troublefield, Linda McDonald and Claude Powell.
Recognized for 15 years of service were Grace Hernandez, Nancy Rios, Adela Munoz, Brandie Villa, Ellen Pennypacker, Melissa Fisher, Kim Dominguez, Heather Christesson and Monique Navarrette.
The following employees were recognized for 10 years of service: Frances Murray, Bill McCrory, Raquel Acosta, Betty McCloskey, Amanda Chavez, Dr. Stephen Schneberger, Kimberly Romero, Jamie Weston, Jessica Ewing, Anthony Landreth, Shawn Orgain, Susie Najera, Rebecca Doporto, Kristine Goodman, Mandy Chavez, Melissa Suggs and Wanda Winderlanahan.
Recognized for five years of service were Brenda Fox, Maria Ruiz, Kathleen Rodriguez, Delma Buendia, Tammie Robichaud, Jamie Valenzuela, Andrew Castaneda, Melinda Mata, Kina Chavez, Elizabeth Crawford, Christopher Sanchez, Amy Martinez, Belinda Rodriguez, Rossell Bana, Destinee Herrington, Ide Larez, Peggy Denton, Dr. Khadija Mamsa, Nathan Goings, Claude Shannon and Kelsey Santo.
CEO Cathy Hibbs also presented service awards to members of the CMC Administrative Team: Chief Nursing Officer Sam Jones, 5 years; Chief Quality Officer Beth McCormick, 15 years; and Chief Financial Officer Mitchell Fransen, 10 years.
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