East Georgia Regional Medical Center (EGRMC) recently honored three outstanding employees for the 2021 year: Employee of the Year was awarded to Kim Wolfe, RN, nurse in Labor & Delivery; Non-Clinical Manager of the Year was awarded to Kathy Holmes, Director of Medical Staff Services; and Clinical Manager of the Year was awarded to Joy Pope, RRT, Director of Cardiopulmonary Services.
Employee of the Year: Kimberly Wolfe, R.N. in Labor & Delivery, began working at East Georgia Regional Medical Center in June 1991. Her peers wrote: “You can look around on any given day that Kim is scheduled to work, and you will find her hard at work, taking great care of patients, helping her coworkers, answering the phones, assisting our OB physicians, making charts and packets for future patients, putting in work orders for her department, and making out work schedules for her team. She ‘owns’ Labor & Delivery, and has for over 30 years. L&D is her home-away-from-home, and it shows!”
Kim continues to show tremendous commitment and dedication to nursing and for that we are very grateful. Her extraordinary work ethic, enthusiasm, and passion for L&D is well deserving of this honor.
Non-Clinical Manager of the Year: Kathy Holmes, Director of Medical Staff Services, has been with East Georgia Regional Medical Center for over 42 years. She has been working consistently since 1979 to make sure the needs of our medical staff are met. Her door is literally always open, and this facilitates medical staff members stopping in to ask questions, provide feedback, share concerns, request advice and more. Kathy is an exceptional listener and this is valuable in strengthening relationships and open communication between the hospital’s administrators and the medical staff at EGRMC. Her co-workers wrote in her nomination for this award: “Kathy is the model of consistency at EGRMC. Her ability to communicate with the medical staff and colleagues is invaluable.” Kathy has been recognized as Employee of the Quarter as well as Manager of the Year during her tenure at EGRMC. She is a member of the Georgia Association Medical Staff Services (GAMSS).
Clinical Manager of the Year: Joy Pope, RRT, has been with East Georgia Regional Medical Center for over 26 years, and leads the hospital’s Cardiopulmonary Services Department. She manages the team of respiratory therapists, oversees EEGs (electroencephalography diagnostic tests), manages the Sleep Lab, and all other cardiopulmonary services within EGRMC. When asked what makes Joy exceptional at her job, her peers wrote: “Joy is honest and genuine. She is a strong, strategic leader who plans and works proactively to meet and deal with any and all challenges head on.” Joy worked with her excellent Cardiopulmonary team through a very challenging COVID surge. At one point, this team had 83 different patients on a ventilator (both COVID and non-COVID patients) and managed through 634 total ventilator days. This was almost a 300% increase over the previous year’s average. These numbers are in addition to managing hi-flows and bi-paps (other respiratory aides). Outside her role as Director of Cardiopulmonary Services, she leads the hospital’s Safety Coach Program and is part of the Incident Command Team. When not at work, Joy is a nationally ranked horse riding competitor and has won numerous state, regional, and national titles over the past several years. “The cardiopulmonary team at East Georgia is extraordinary, and ranks at the top of any that I’ve had the pleasure of working with in my career,” stated Stephen Pennington, CEO of EGRMC.
“We are proud to have Kim, Kathy, and Joy recognized as our Employee and Managers of the Year for 2021,” added Mr. Pennington. “These ladies are invaluable assets to our medical center, and have been for decades. Their dedication, professionalism, hard work and commitment to our hospital are seen and appreciated by many. We congratulate and thank them for all that they do each and every day.”
