Years of Loyalty were Treasured at the 2018 Methodist Hospitals Awards Banquet

Years of Loyalty were Treasured at the 2018 Methodist Hospitals Awards Banquet

At the 2018 Annual Methodist Hospital Service Awards, employees were honored for their hard work and dedication, exemplifying the mission of Methodist Hospitals; Leading the way to better health. A massive 321 employees were recognized at the Avalon Manor in Merrillville on Friday evening.

The President and CEO of Methodist Hospitals, Ray Grady, acknowledged all of the honorees as he explained why this event is so important.

“Today is one of the highlight events of the calendar year. It is a highlight event because it gives us an opportunity to say thank you to our employees who have worked for us for 5 to 45 years,” Grady said. “We wanted to thank them for their dedication, loyalty, and fidelity to our mission of being the best place to work and receive care.”

Each of the honorees were awarded for either a five-year, all the way up to 45-year milestones,and four outstanding individuals were awarded with "Employee of the Year," "Leader of the Year," "Humanitarian of the Year" and "Safety Star of the Year."

See more photos here!

The Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Methodist Hospitals, Tracey Crandall, is a new employee who joined about 14 months ago when she was inspired by the loyalty and commitment of the hospitals' team.

“One of the reasons I made my choice to come to Methodist Hospitals is the fabulous culture that is here. I think it truly is a family culture with many years of service,” Crandall emphasized. “For example, the years of service that are being recognized this evening equal out to 4,425 years of total service. From an HR individuals perspective, a culture in this level of loyalty to the community in the organization is something that you can’t experience anywhere else.”

Karen Klimis, a Nurse at Methodist Hospital, said she has gained a lot from her 45 years of working at Methodist Hospital. Klimis has held many positions within Methodist Hospitals, from receptionist to a nurse’s aide, to a variety of management roles.

“I have had a lot of different experiences and I think that is what kept me at Methodist Hospitals. My dad always taught me loyalty to the company,” Klimis said. “What I would do is just switch and do something different there. I have learned a whole new aspect of the hospital this way, outside of direct patient care. It has been very interesting and rewarding. I have learned a lot over these years.”

Loyalty and passion were the two qualities that were really recognized by Methodist Hospitals. The memories that the employees have gathered from over the years were breathtaking and some stories were tear-worthy. Just the same way that the employees gave back to their community, they also saw it in return from their community that night. The event was the perfect way for the community and Methodist Hospitals to say, “Thank you,” as they treasured all of the their years of service.

Congratulations to the Awards Recipients:
Safety Star of the Year: Heather Carroll
Humanitarian Award: Father Joseph Uko
Employee of the Year: Bilijana Drobrijevic
Leader of the Year: Deborah Prewitt