FLH Honors Employees for Years of Service, Announces Employee Awards

UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health held its annual Employee Recognition dinner on May 14 at Club 86 in Geneva, honoring employees for almost years 1,840 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 15 employees, with more than 319 years of service, who retired in the last year. Six employees received 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 use of the health system’s Education Assistance Programs.

Members of the Administrative Team presented milestone years of service awards to employees who have completed 5 to 45 years of service with Finger Lakes Health.

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 year, Bob Markel, Director of Budget and Internal Reporting, was honored as the 15th recipient of this celebrated award. He has been employed with Finger Lakes Health for the last nine years.

Markel translates Finger Lakes Health’s vision and strategy into optimal performance. He is an often an example of best practice and serves as a model for standards of excellence. He is recognized by peers and is often sought out to provide perspective, guidance, and direction.

Markel is known for working cooperatively with others, being accountable, overcoming obstacles, achieving business goals, and implementing timely and cost-effective solutions.

The Employee of the Year Award recognizes an employee that sets the standard for excellence. This year’s award was presented to Kathy McConnell, Radiology Supervisor, Geneva General Hospital. She has been with Finger Lakes Health for the last thirty two years.

Words to describe McConnell include hard-working, dependable, courteous and respectful. Her colleagues comment that “All co-workers love Kathy as do patients. In fact, patients say that she treats them life family and they come back to Finger Lakes Health because of her. Kathy is the glue that holds our department together and not a day goes by where her hard work goes unnoticed.”

McConnell was selected from among the outstanding field of 12 Employees of the Quarter who were recognized each quarter in 2023. The program recognizes those employees who consistently demonstrate organizational values and whose performance clearly exceeds the requirements of their positions.

Photos from the evening can be viewed on Finger Lakes Health’s Flickr page.

Photo cut line:(L-R) Jose Acevedo, MD, MBA, President & CEO, UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health, Kathy McConnell and Ryan Hallings, Chair, UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health Board of Directors

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