Employee-Based Selection Honors Peers as ‘Best Among Staff’ for First Quarter
Written by Kenneth J. Eysaman
Carthage Area Hospital recently named three team members as employees of the quarter for the first quarter of the year.
Selection is peer-based and criteria include embodiment the organization’s core values of accountability, compassion, customer service, professionalism and teamwork.
Susan M. Ward, RT (R), (M), Medical Imaging department manager; Morgan L. Pierce, MBA, Fiscal Services treasury manager; and Corey Burns, Meadowbrook Terrace skilled maintenance technician, were honored last week.
Susan M. Ward, RT (R), (M), Medical Imaging department manager
Susan M. Ward is a native of Milton, Vt., who grew up volunteering as a young woman in the former Fanny Allen Hospital near Burlington. By the time she graduated from high school, Ward had logged 3,000 volunteer hours as a “candy striper” and decided to pursue a career in health care as an X-ray technician. She graduated from North Country Community College, Saranac Lake, with an Associate in Applied Science in Radiologic Technology in 1994. She is a nationally registered Radiologic Technologist who is also registered in Mammography.
Before she joined the hospital’s medical imaging team in June 2001, Ward worked for an orthopedic group in Potsdam and at Clifton-Fine Hospital, Star Lake, as an X-ray technician where she cross-trained in mammography, CT and ultrasound. She has served as Medical Imaging department manager for three years.
Ward said she enjoys the “family atmosphere” of Carthage Area Hospital, where there is “great support and flexibility to optimize your strengths.”
“There is a lot of room to grow, achieve your goals, and work up through the ranks while pursuing more professional education,” she said.
One nominator said of Ward: “Sue has a passion for radiology. She has a drive to have patients experience optimal care with which they are delighted. She is someone who is not dependent on appreciation to ‘get the job’ done (and) is an analytical thinker that often weighs the pros and cons trying to find the perfect solution.”
Ward lives in Harrisville with her husband, Richard, and has two sons, Zachary, 18, a junior at Harrisville Junior-Senior High School, and John, 19, a freshman at Paul Smith’s College, Paul Smiths, where he studies culinary arts. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with family, volunteering as an advocate for children with disabilities, and working with other parents at the Harrisville Junior-Senior High School.
Corey Burns, Meadowbrook Terrace skilled maintenance technician
Corey Burns is a North Country native who grew up in Carthage. He graduated from Carthage High School in 2015 and also completed a two-year electrical wiring program at Jefferson-Lewis BOCES, Watertown.
Burns joined the hospital’s skilled maintenance team in February 2016 and began work at Meadowbrook Terrace Assisted Living. He said he enjoys the “wide variety of work at the facility” that most often “involves helping people to live comfortably.”
“I love listening to the residents and all their old stories while doing all the little stuff to make their day better,” he said. “My fellow employees also make working here feel like we’re all one big family.”
One nominator said of Burns: “Corey embodies what it means to provide exemplary service to the residents of Meadowbrook Terrace. Corey treats every resident as he would his own grandparents. He is quick to innovate when faced with a new challenge, believes in teamwork, has great personal integrity, cares about his community, and shows his commitment to excellence through his tireless work ethic.”
Burns lives in Natural Bridge and enjoys hunting, golf, snowmobiling and riding his motorcycle during his free time.
Morgan L. Pierce, Fiscal Services treasury manager
Morgan L. Pierce is a native of south Jefferson County who lives in Adams Center with her husband, Daniel, a New York State Court officer, and sons, Brayden, 11, and Marcus, 8. She joined Carthage Area Hospital as a senior accountant in February 2017 and was promoted to treasury manager in February 2018.
She is a 2015 graduate of SUNY Empire State College, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and Economics with a concentration in Accounting. She earned a Master of Business Administration from Capella University in 2017.
Before she joined CAH’s Fiscal Services team, she worked at Family Counseling Service of NNY, Watertown, as operations director and previously as a client and customer relations specialist. She also was a staff accountant at Whalen, Davey & Loonan, CPAs, Watertown.
Pierce said she enjoys “working with a great team, knowing that we’re making a difference for the hospital.”
“Even though I don’t work with patients, what I do in the back helps with the front,” she said.
One nominator said of Pierce: “In just a year, Morgan has not only picked up many tasks but also embodied the spirit of Carthage Area Hospital. In our small community it is important that everyone supports each other to help the hospital achieve success.
Though she doesn’t interact directly with patients she is one of the hidden faces who helps the hospital continue to run.”
Outside of work, Pierce enjoys time with her family, traveling — especially to Disney — cooking, and running. She also volunteers as treasurer of the South Jefferson Pop Warner football team.
Natalie Burnham, M.S.Ed., Carthage Area Hospital director of community, patient and employee engagement, said the three team members “clearly embody the values that Carthage Hospital encourages staff to live each day,” and serve as examples for others to follow
Nomination, Selection Process
All team members employed for more than one year are eligible for nomination by fellow employees, supervisors, auxiliary members, patients, patient family members or visitors. Nominations are reviewed based on each nominee’s embodiment of Carthage Area Hospital’s five core values — professionalism, accountability, compassion, customer service and teamwork.
In 2017, the hospital’s Rewards and Recognition Committee implemented a selection process that emphasizes the hospital’s values through an anonymous vote open to the entire staff. A narrative of each nomination that omits employee name, gender and department is published on an online portal open for a two-week voting period. The top three nominees are then selected for recognition as employees of the quarter.
Each employee received a $25 gift card, a gift basket, valet parking for a month at the hospital — off-campus employees receive a reserved parking space for a month — a plaque and an invitation to join the senior leadership team for lunch.
About Carthage Area Hospital
Carthage Area Hospital was established as a not-for-profit rural community hospital in 1965. It operates today as a fully accredited 25-bed Critical Access Hospital, serving approximately 83,000 residents in Jefferson, northern Lewis and southern St. Lawrence counties. The hospital formed a clinical affiliation with Crouse Health, Syracuse, in 2017.
The hospital also operates a network of community-based clinics, including its Family Health Center, Pediatric Clinic, Women’s Way to Wellness, and Philadelphia Medical Center, and provides a range of specialty care, including general surgery, orthopedics, urology, neurosurgical care, physical therapy and behavioral health.