Finger Lakes Health held its annual Employee Recognition dinner during Hospital and Nursing Home Weeks in May, honoring employees for more than 2,600 years of service to the community and thanking them for their contributions and dedication to the ongoing success of the health system.
The recognition honored 26 employees, with more than 560 years of service, who retired in the last year. Thirteen employees were presented the Morton Orlov, M.D. Education Award for completing a degree program within the past 12 months. This award is in recognition of personal commitment to education through the use of the health system’s Education Assistance Programs.
Members of the Administrative Team presented service awards to employees celebrating milestone years of service.
Two special awards were presented to employees who consistently exceeded the requirements of their jobs in the workplace: the James J. Dooley Leadership Excellence Award and the Employee of the Year.
The James J. Dooley Leadership Excellence Award recognizes outstanding performance by a leader who is committed to Finger Lakes Health’s mission, values and the healing environment, as well as the leader’s overall job performance and leadership skills. This is the ninth year the Leadership Excellence Award has been presented. This year’s recipient was Kara Lincoln, Joint Center Program Manager for Finger Lakes Health. Kara was selected based on her commitment to Finger Lakes Health’s mission, values and the healing environment, as well as her overall job performance and leadership skills. Since her arrival 5 1/2 years ago, Kara has taken on increasing responsibility, developed new leadership skills and helped grow The Joint Center of the Finger Lakes. She has an unwavering focus on our quality, patient safety and patient experience goals. Most recently, she played a key role in Geneva General Hospital’s deficiency free Joint Commission Disease Specific Certification Surveys for hip and knee replacement.
The Employee of the Year for 2016 was presented to Courtney Harris, Inpatient Rehab Coordinator for Finger Lakes Health. Courtney was recognized for being a tremendous resource and a great ambassador for the health system. She is valued for her expertise, work ethic and the exceptional service she provides to patients and students. Recently Courtney helped a patient recovering from a significant illness regain the ability to walk and then compete in a 5K race. An avid runner herself, she signed up to participate in the race with her patient.
Harris was selected from among the outstanding field of 11 Employees of the Quarter who were recognized each quarter in 2016. This is the 15th year the coveted Employee of the Year award has been presented, part of the Distinguished Values Award Program at Finger Lakes Health. Each quarter, an employee from each of the following categories: Long Term Care, Physician Practices and Hospital are recognized. The Employee of the Year is chosen from these outstanding individuals. The program recognizes those employees who consistently demonstrate organizational values and whose performance clearly exceeds the requirements of their positions.
Finger Lakes Health is a community-owned, not-for-profit health system that provides a full range of acute and long term care health services to residents of the Finger Lakes region in Upstate New York. Services are provided on three campuses located in Geneva (Ontario County), Waterloo (Seneca County) and Penn Yan (Yates County). The 660-bed health system is governed by a common Board of Directors and is served by a common management team. The health system offers a broad range of primary, specialty and sub-specialty services to residents of the Finger Lakes region.