Celebrating the People who Make our Hospital Great
By Jordan Vezeau - February 22, 2017
 |
|
Some of this year’s Walk the Talk winners gather for a photo for with Jean Bartkowiak, President and CEO (far left) and Amanda Bjorn, Vice President of Human Resources (far right). The Walk the Talk Awards recognizes Hospital team members for their exemplary performance in varying categories. |
“We value employees because our people make our hospital great,” said Amanda Bjorn, Vice President, Human Resources at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. Recognizing employees, professional staff, and volunteers for their dedication and hard work is a priority. “We recently hosted the third annual Employee Recognition Week, because we know how important it is to feel valued at work,” Bjorn explained.
The Hospital has a dedicated team that continually endeavours to provide excellent patient and family centred care, all while providing a crucial service to the city and region. Delivering quality care in an academic health sciences centre environment has its challenges. It is only through the steadfast devotion of our team that we have, continue to, and will reach our strategic goals and objectives. The Hospital is the largest employer in the city, with over 2,700 employees, 300 professional staff, and 500 volunteers.
To supplement existing reward and recognition efforts, in 2015 the Human Resources team began hosting an annual Employee Recognition Week to recognize, support, and celebrate the people who work at the Hospital. Activities include the Long Service reception, which highlights employees celebrating milestone years of service, the Walk the Talk Awards ceremony, which recognizes team members for their exemplary performance in varying categories, on-site massages for staff, roaming carts for day, evening, and night staff, as well as daily trivia and prizes, all generously donated by businesses around the community.
The week of recognition and celebration received a gracious nod from the Honourable Michael Gravelle. The Minister of Northern Development and Mines, and MPP for Thunder Bay – Superior North made a point of recognizing the value that the surrounding communities place in the Hospital.
“Employees are the single most important part of health care. Our Employee Recognition Week gives us a formal channel to recognize and celebrate the contributions we appreciate every day,” said Bjorn.