The United States brought home 46 gold medals during the 2016 Olympics in Rio. But back in Baltimore, employees of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System Corporation have swept the field when it comes to outstanding job performance.

 

The 2016 Employee Appreciation Service Awards Ceremony on Sept. 12 recognized the 1,785 employees who celebrated five-, 10-, 20-, 30-, 40- and 50-year anniversaries at Johns Hopkins this year. Seventeen individuals were also recognized for going above and beyond in performance and customer service. Testimonials from both managers

and patients helped determine this year’s award recipients.

 

Among the many providers one patient interacted with during her monthlong hospital stay, she identified Razak “Zak” Abudu, an oncology nurse clinician in Weinberg 5C, as simply “the best.” The patient felt that he could be a doctor based on how thoroughly Abudu explained everything to her, and that he provided care in a way that made her feel like one of his own family members. Abudu’s excellence

in patient care promotes the “always experience” that Johns Hopkins strives for with patients, which is why he was selected as this year’s recipient of the Edward A. Halle Prize for Excellence in Patient Service.

 

“I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do, but it feels good that someone took note of the care I provided,” he says. “I’m thankful to work with individuals who are the best at what they do, which in turn allows me to give out the best of myself to the patients.”

 

Many recipients of the Baker-King Award, which recognizes  on exempt employees who have been outstanding in their duties, were commended for providing extraordinary patient- and family-centered care.

 

Linda Wright, a phlebotomy lab tech of 12 years, “was exactly who I needed to hold my hand at that moment,” said one hospital patient who was dealing with loss.  Otis Grazier, a security ambassador in Corporate Security, got CPR/AED certified on his own and took Spanish classes to better connect with Spanish-speaking patients—even though neither were a work requirement.

 

Other recipients are commended for being valuable team players. Food

service worker Tyrone Cheeseboro is an asset to the nutrition department. Most notably, he developed a system for stocking beverages in the storeroom’s walk-in coolers so that items stay cold

and are rotated for freshness.

 

Congratulations to the other Baker-King Award recipients:

Wayne Krause, facility maintenance technician, Johns Hopkins at

Green Spring Station

 

Julie Beck, senior mammography technologist, radiology breast

imaging

 

Dianna Wolf, medical office assistant, Johns Hopkins Community Physicians at Odenton

 

Sara Garza, front desk associate, Hackerman-Patz Patient and Family

Pavilion

 

Charvette Waters, senior patient access specialist, Gynecology and

Obstetrics Access Center

 

Zina Brown, intake coordinator, Office of Organizational Equity

 

Danielle Darby, patient services coordinator, Comprehensive Transplant Center

 

The highest individual award recognizes outstanding leaders who work

to create an engaging and productive workplace for employees. This year, six managers received the 2016 Human Resources Presidential Leadership Award, all of whom have had engagement scores at or above the 75th percentile on the Johns Hopkins Annual Employee Engagement Survey for the past five consecutive years.

 

Lakeisha Brown, site manager, Johns Hopkins Imaging at Green

Spring Station

 

Bob De Jong, manager of ultrasound, Department of Radiology

and Radiological Science

 

Teresa Fernandez, revenue cycle manager for behavioral health programs

 

Joseph Kaszak, technical support manager for IT @ JH Engineering

Services

 

Lynn Jones, assistant director for central nursing

 

John O’Neill, ERP manager, IT @ Johns Hopkins Enterprise Business

Solutions

 

“I didn’t set out to beat the world; I just set out to do my absolute best.”

– Olympic gold medalist Al Oerter