Janet Norin, RN

Why did you choose this as your career?  I wanted to be a nurse since I was a little girl. I started out as a candy striper with the Red Cross and loved it.

What are the challenges and rewards you experience in your work? In my role as staffing coordinator I have challenges everyday as I assist units with afternoon/evening staffing issues and also help bed control place patients in the most appropriate setting given their diagnosis.  My reward is that the patient gets the best outcome, every day, every time with adequate staffing.

What are your plans for the future? Retirement, of course, but I am too young.  Even though I already have more than 30 years in nursing, I will continue to work for several more years.

How has the hospital supported your career? Trinity has been very supportive monetarily and with flexible scheduling while I obtained my BSN through Trinity College of Nursing and when I received my OCN certification.  I am proud to be a Trinity employee!

About Janet Norin

Education: Lutheran Hospital School for Nurses and bachelor of science degree in nursing from Trinity College of Nursing & Heath Sciences

Years with hospital: 32 years

Doug put his training to work part time in Leon at Decatur County Hospital (DCH) in 1994, while working full time at other jobs.  He worked as an emergency medical technician (EMT) for the casino in Osceola and as head custodian at the high school in Leon. He became full-time at DCH in 2004, working well above and beyond his requirements as an EMT and helping other departments when needed.

In March 2011, DCH staff was called to the scene of a motor vehicle accident with seven people involved and serious injuries.  Now as the fire chief in Leon and the surrounding community, Doug was preparing an old house to burn down for teaching purposes for the volunteer firefighters when the call came. Doug canceled those plans and volunteered to go to the scene and help with this accident. He managed four patients coming back to the hospital and took excellent care of them.

Doug also is involved in a lot of community activities and does volunteer teaching for fire prevention at schools, the sheriff’s department, Family Place (a child care facility) and Boy Scouts.  He is a certified diver and does scuba diving for rescue and recovery. Doug was awarded the Above and Beyond Honor Award from Mercy Health System for the wonderful job he did at the March accident.

Doug continues to serve Decatur County by doing a lot of volunteer work for his neighborhood, such as mowing and snow removal for the elderly, and volunteers as an EMT at the youth rodeos.  In so many ways, Doug’s hard work and dedication have made the community safer, healthier and more enjoyable. We are fortunate to have this Hospital Hero in our midst.

Beginning this month, Lakes Regional Healthcare at Spirit Lake will join the network of hospitals participating in URMED, which also includes BVRMC, Humboldt Community Hospital, Loring Hospital in Sac City and Pocahontas Community Hospital. The increase in hospital participation also created an additional internship position in the program.

BVRMC provides experiential learning opportunities throughout the academic year for BVU students pursuing careers in medicine and other health care professions, says Dr. Richard Lampe, professor of biology who helped develop the URMED partnership. Lampe is also current chair of the BVRMC Board of Trustees.

The capstone of the URMED program is an intensive January internship for selected BVU pre-med students who have an interest in practicing rural medicine. Students compete for the January internship slots, which include $3,000 stipends to help defray the costs of applying to medical school.

The URMED program was designed as one possible solution to the impending national shortage of physicians and other health care practitioners in rural communities. URMED has attracted interest from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine as well as a national program that seeks to interest young people in health care careers, notes Lampe.

URMED program interns (in white coats, left to right) Sabrina Martinez, Cammy Matters, Whitney Nelson and Alex Davis are joined by Rob Colerick, CEO of Buena Vista Regional Medical Center.

While the URMED alumni have no obligation to return to the communities where they interned, BVU science faculty, and officials at BVRMC and the other participating hospitals stay in regular contact and build ongoing relationships with them. “We have already seen interest in several medical students in coming back to Storm Lake to practice,” notes Lampe. The URMED program is also attracting new students interested in health care careers to BVU, he notes.

Students selected for the 2012 URMED January internships are:

• Cammy Matters, a junior biology major from Humboldt
• Whitney Nelson, a junior biology and history double major from Audubon
• Alex Davis, a junior biology major from Webster City
• Sabrina Martinez, a non-traditional student from Storm Lake, who is completing her pre-med course requirements at BVU. A 2008 Columbia University graduate in political science, she is a former admissions representative and assistant director of admissions at BVU.

Matters, Nelson and Davis will each intern at BVRMC for two weeks and then one week at the hospitals in Humboldt, Sac City, or Pocahontas. Martinez will spend all three weeks of her internship at Lakes Regional Healthcare at Spirit Lake.

During their internships, the students will work alongside physicians and other health care practitioners to learn what it is like to interact with patients in hospital, surgery, emergency room and clinical settings. They can also attend lectures and continuing education programs for medical staff.

The participating hospitals and BVU, through donor support, provide the financial resources for the stipends. “This year we had nine very fine URMED applicants but could only fund the four internships,” notes Lampe. “If we had additional financial support and participation from other area hospitals we could grow the program to accommodate the interest that our BVU students are showing in rural medical careers.”

So far, six BVU graduates and two current students have completed URMED January internships. Two are now enrolled in medical schools and others are working in related fields and plan to reapply to med schools, or are in graduate programs.

Two 2009 BVU graduates, Kyle Glienke of Aurelia and James Alstott of Laurens, also completed internships at BVRMC that became the model for the URMED program, says Lampe. They are third-year medical students at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and were on campus in September to talk with URMED students about their experiences in medical school.

Mary Jo Clark
ER/Trauma Coordinator
Floyd Valley Hospital, Le Mars

Why did you choose this as your career? When I was 14 years old I saw a segment on the news about the intensive care unit of a nursery and I just knew that was I wanted to do when I grew up.

What are the challenges and rewards you experience in your work?  The challenges are meeting the varying needs of the patients from newborns to geriatrics.  Some patients come in with no medical knowledge and some with too much, some have an uncomplicated complaint and some have you baffled, and some have no money or resources and some have unlimited yet you need to treat them all the same. The rewards are being able to help the patient, solving their problems or getting to a specialist who can.  I work in ER so I like seeing the unusual like people nailing their hand to the board, kids putting rocks in their nose, etc.

What are your plans for the future? I see myself being in this position for a long time.   I would like to get my master’s degree and information technology is something that interests me and I may explore that in the future.

How has the hospital supported your career? I started here as a new graduate on the floor and they encouraged me to move up to first a charge nurse then nursing supervisor and now this position.  Along the way I got married and have three active children and they have really worked with me so that my schedule would not conflict with family demands for which I am very grateful.

More About Mary Jo Clark

Education: Bachelor of science in nursing from Morningside College

Years with hospital: 16 years

“While he may do his finest work as a surgeon in the operating room directly below the rooftop greenscape, I would contend he does his finest work as a compassionate physician in the patient rooms looking out onto the roof,” says Missy Gowey, executive director of the Genesis Health Services Foundation. “I have always been impressed with his skills and am now humbled by his passion for helping patients achieve wellness – physically, emotionally and spiritually.”

As the medical director of the Genesis trauma program, Dr. Lohmuller has worked to reduce trauma in many ways, from advocating traffic control cameras to participating in mock accident re-enactments before prom night to discourage impaired teenage drivers. He also was instrumental in Genesis offering free prom photos to all prom-goers who sign a pledge to be alcohol-free, to not be distracted drivers and to wear their seatbelts on prom night.

As past medical director for the Genesis Center for Breast Health, he has impacted the healing of hundreds of Quad Cities women who have faced breast cancer. “Dr. Lohmuller is the

Dr. Lohmuller meets with a patient during his annual medical mission trip to Peru.

driving force for our genetic clinic, which provides patients with a family history of breast cancer an opportunity to determine the risk that they or their daughters  may have in developing the disease in the future,” says Cindy McGee, Manager of the Kenneth H. McKay M.D. Center for Breast Health.

Each summer, Dr. Lohmuller leads a medical mission trip to Peru, where he and a health care team of other Genesis professionals provide care, equipment and technology to patients at Hospital Goyeneche in the impoverished city of Arequipa. On this year’s trip, his team of hospital staff included Genesis CEO Doug Cropper.

As impressive as those actions are, they pale in comparison to her work with families impacted by Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). The death of her three-month-old son, Ethan, four years ago fueled a desire to form an infant loss support group for families impacted by the death of any child during pregnancy or shortly following.  This support group is now offering an annual memory walk each fall and is currently constructing a memory wall in Waukon’s city park. 

Cheryl and her entire family fund and implement a new product or service for pediatric patients at the hospital each year in Ethan’s memory. Thanks to their donations, all of the babies born at Veterans are kept safe in a trademarked SleepSack; the hospital has a new pediatric emergency room; both ambulances have DVD players; and clay molds are now given to families of their deceased infant’s hands and feet.

Beyond all of her generosity, what is most outstanding about Cheryl is her ability to instruct emergency medical service departments and high school health classes all across the state on how to respond to SIDS and other pediatric emergencies, and how to comfort those families.  Cheryl also serves on the board of directors of the Iowa SIDS Foundation.

Each day, Cheryl exceeds expectations for Veterans’ emergency patients.  Her integrity is unbelievable.  She has taken something that could have been very negative in her life and turned it into such a positive thing for so many people. And each year she continues to do even more – setting an example for her coworkers, the community and her adorable two-year-old twin daughters! 

Jennifer Rouse, Physical Therapist at Lucas County Health Center in Chariton takes a few minutes to say what inspired her to pursue her career as well as what it takes to be a physical therapist.

For more information on health care careers in Iowa, click here.

(Watch this video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/iOkJd9L7M0Q)

Lori Pietig

Why did you choose this career? Radiology gave me the opportunity to combine two types of studies that I loved, science and art.  A career in radiology allowed me to explore different avenues in the healthcare world combining anatomy, patient care and technology. This career allows me to work independently and still be part of a team, allowing room for advancement and endless learning opportunities.

What are the challenges and rewards you experience in your work? As a radiologic technologist it is my job to provide the best care possible in a professional manner. Working in the same community where I grew up can be challenging. This places me in situations to care for my family and friends if they become sick or injured. I am directly associated with their care which can be difficult to handle both professionally and emotionally. This same situation can also be very rewarding. A benefit as reported by some of those individuals is that by having me present the overall situation was more pleasant because of the personal comfort I was able to provide. I attempt to approach those situations as a friend who is knowledgeable about my chosen healthcare field. Assuring them that I am here to answer their questions and provide the best care possible.

What are your plans for the future? I look forward to working on my management skills and hope to someday find a position in management or administration within my facility.

How has your hospital supported your career? St. Anthony has been very supportive by offering educational opportunities and helping employees to advance in their chosen field of health care. The hospital has provided study materials and tuition assistance for my education. I have been lucky to be surrounded by management and administration that were willing to take their time to help me complete and excel in my masters program. Their leadership and guidance allowed me to understand different concepts of administration and complete my thesis project successfully. 

More about Lori Pietig:

Education: Master’s degree in health care administration from Bellevue University, bachelor of science degree in medical imaging/radiologic technology from Clarkson College

Years with hospital: 6

Sherri A. Clewell, D.O., joined the medical staff at Mary Greeley Medical Center as medical director for the Emergency Department and ambulance service in 2005.  She quickly became a leader in providing and developing emergency medicine in the hospital and around Ames.

Chris Perrin, paramedic supervisor at Mary Greeley Medical Center, nominated Dr. Clewell for the Iowa Hospital Hero Award. Chris credited Dr. Clewell with the following: “In a relatively short time after arriving, Dr. Clewell extended her responsibilities to as many as 12 first responder services at one time and served as the medical director of  the new emergency medical dispatch trained Ames Police Communications Center. She has meticulously read ambulance run reports, provided constructive feedback, personally participated in countless meetings and coached emergency medical services providers in improving care and their documentation of care. She got involved in the research, organization and medical direction of a brand new ambulance service in Huxley. She has overseen innovative updates of out-of-hospital protocols and built state-of-the art support systems in the hospital (most recently a post-cardiac arrest hypothermia protocol). She also helped update in-hospital cardiac arrest protocols.”

Chris goes on to say, “Dr. Clewell helped recruit and currently manages a talented group of physicians who staff the Mary Greeley Medical Center Emergency Department full time and she championed an electronic medical documentation system that has included physicians, nurses and allied care providers. She participates in several committees that are productive and multi-disciplinary. The Emergency Department was recently awarded a very prestigious Studer Award for patient satisfaction improvement scores.”

“Dr. Clewell has also been involved in the medical planning and operations (including medical oversight) of countless special events in Ames, including RAGBRAI, Republican straw poll, Iowa Games, Iowa State University home football stadium and grounds coverage as well as unanticipated events like the floods of 2010. She has provided a professional, vibrant, progressive and heroic commitment to emergency medicine and to emergency health care patients and providers.”

(Over the next several weeks, the blog will feature IHA’s 2011 Iowa Hospital Heroes.  These outstanding hospital employees come from across the state and work at hospitals of every size.  They exemplify the courage, caring and community focus that are at the center of the hospital mission in Iowa.)

Barb Anderson is a health care champion in the laboratory at Knoxville Hospital & Clinics (KHC) who routinely steps beyond her role to treat the many patients who come through the hospital doors on a daily basis. Many people who have been patients at KHC may remember the woman who not only drew their blood sample, but also took the time to explain what she was doing and to lend support and comfort. Barb is known for her efficiency and cheerful manner; her courteous and tactful demeanor while dealing with patients; not to mention the skill she has of being able to draw blood from a turnip.

Beginning her career at KHC in 1971, being the laboratory manager represents far more than just a job or paycheck for Barb. Instead, she is fulfilling her commitment of helping save lives every day. She is proud and committed to the work she does to ensure that our local hospital continues to serve as the community’s place of spirit, passion, integrity, reliability, innovation and teamwork.

Barb’s professionalism makes her an exceptional teacher and role model. She has developed skills in her staff group beyond competency to get accurate results. Through her leadership, the staff has willingly taken on additional responsibilities covering every aspect of running a hospital laboratory. In addition, Barb is an active board member with the KHC Foundation where she has taken on a real commitment and investment to raise the funds needed to continually offer the advantages of new technology and services.

“Barb’s dedication reaches out and touches employees, doctors, patients and citizens.  She is a tireless champion who has touched thousands of lives through her devotion, integrity, and honesty,” said Mel Suhr, Knoxville Hospital & Clinics Board Chairman. “Her acts of courage and purpose is all for the betterment of this hospital and this small part of Iowa.  When it comes to this, Barb Anderson is in a league of her own. Simply put, Barb Anderson is our Hero!”