Meet the third-quarter Strauss Award winners
Let’s give a hearty thank-you to the latest winners of UT Southwestern’s Diana and Richard C. Strauss Service Excellence Awards.
The 2022 third-quarter award honorees were celebrated during a virtual event on Oct. 21, hosted by John Warner, M.D., Executive Vice President for Health System Affairs and Health System CEO.
Once each quarter, six employees within the Health System are recognized for exemplifying excellence and professionalism in all they do.
Three things define and unite Strauss Award winners:
- They excel at their jobs.
- They serve as role models for the next generation of employees.
- They share a spirit of volunteerism that strengthens our community.
Watch: Dr. Warner honors winners during the virtual event.
Mohammad Ali, M.S.
Senior Health Information Management Specialist
Health Information Management
“Mohammad has never complained but keeps a smile on his face and rolls up his sleeves to help wherever he is needed. He is exemplary and sets the bar in enhancing the customer experience as well as improving productivity and assisting with backlog to ensure we continue to meet the demands of patient care.”
UTSW career: Mr. Ali is the newest team member among the third-quarter Strauss Awards class, beginning his job at UT Southwestern in March of 2021 as a Clinic Staff Assistant with the Special Pathogens Team. He transferred last November to Health Information Management, where his people skills have made him a perfect fit. He was promoted this summer to a senior specialist with the Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI) team. While serving as an exemplar of customer service, he still finds time to help in additional areas of need, including working extra hours to help out other teams.
In his role: It’s his job to maintain the data integrity of patient records, ensuring that providers have the most accurate and comprehensive information to move forward with the best care plan. When team members or patients need his help, Mr. Ali is “clear, concise and granular” in communicating with them to help solve their issues.
Let me help you: “I’m a research person, so this job is a great fit for me,” he said. “I’m not a doctor or a nurse, but I do a lot of the back-end work and it makes me proud to, in that way, make an impact on patient care. I’m very happy working in a job where I feel like I make a difference.”
Problem solver: Taking the extra steps to make sure the job gets done right is a hallmark of Mr. Ali’s work. He always does his due diligence, double-checking names, medical record numbers, and other factors to make sure the integrity of the records he processes is maintained. His nominator noted that he is “very tech-savvy and highly intelligent. He is truly a problem solver who will do his digging” to find a resolution.
Off the clock: Mr. Ali is pursuing a master’s degree in health information management and manages to carve out a few hours here and there to dedicate to his newest passion: playing golf. He calls the game an ideal form of stress relief and tries to play at least once a week.
Kelly Glenn, M.S.
Administrative Associate
Ambulatory Services
“Every day she is called upon for assistance in solving one problem or another, and she does so expeditiously, thoroughly, and – most importantly – with the detail needed so that if the issue should come up again, the person needing help has the ability to function independently next time. There is not a week that goes by that I don’t get at least one request from a director, executive, or manager asking, ‘Can Kelly help?’”
Military service: Mrs. Glenn joined UT Southwestern 21 years ago after nearly a decade serving as a medic in the U.S. Air Force.
“When I got out of the military, I applied at UT Southwestern originally to be a paramedic,” she recalled. “I was a little surprised when the recruiter called to ask me if I would be interested in something else – something that would put my organizational skills to use.”
The observant recruiter opened a rewarding career path Mrs. Glenn said she couldn’t have imagined at the time. But she soon realized it was her true calling.
UTSW career: For the bulk of her time at UTSW, she’s provided invaluable administrative support to the Neurosciences team at Zale Lipshy Pavilion and, more recently, William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital. Just last week, she started her new role at our recently opened UT Southwestern Medical Center at RedBird, where she supports our regional director for Ambulatory Operations.
In her role: Mrs. Glenn thrives on finding answers to any questions that arise and in making things work better by streamlining them. One example is how she helped simplify the process of getting approvals and travel reimbursements for her team members from the Accounting Department.
Institutional service: Her ideas worked so well that she’s been asked to serve on a committee to help solve similar issues across the Health System. In 2021, Mrs. Glenn was elected Chair of the Employee Advisory Council and has also served on the Employee Recognition Committee, the Employee Wellness Advisory Committee, the Faculty Senate, and the President’s Council on Diversity and Inclusion.
Off the clock: While she loves to attend her children’s soccer games and school events, Mrs. Glenn’s mind is rarely far away from the people she works with or the organizational skills that are her calling card. Every year she helps assemble the Head for the Cure fundraising team for the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute.
Minda Hill, B.S.N., RN, OCN
Oncology Nurse Navigator
Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center Support Services
“The reason Minda is so incredibly busy is because patients continue to call her for issues they encounter, even if these calls should sometimes go to a clinic nurse. Minda is a problem solver and never says ‘this is not my job.’”
UTSW career: Mrs. Hill has worked at UT Southwestern for eight years. She briefly worked in another Dallas hospital’s cardiac ICU for about a year before learning of an opportunity to work as a nurse here in the Bone Marrow Transplant Clinic. She became a nurse navigator in 2018 with the gastrointestinal team, and for the last two years she has focused exclusively on pancreatic cancer.
In her role: Mrs. Hill works tirelessly to ensure that each new patient is acclimated as seamlessly as possible into our care and treatment, according to her nominator. She creatively arranges for the timely scheduling of appointments while providing patients and their families with the support and education they need. Showing empathy and compassion, she is able to see the holistic view of our patients and reaches out to social workers once she becomes aware of potential social or financial obstacles to care.
When speed counts: “We get so many requests to contact patients and get them in ASAP because of a new pancreas cancer diagnosis,” according to Mrs. Hill’s nominator. “This is when Minda steps into action and often is the first point of contact. Her goal is to make sure that all new referrals are contacted in 24-48 hours and appointments are provided in a week.”
Forging connections: “It can be a tough job, but it’s very fulfilling,” Mrs. Hill said. “It’s truly an honor to be a part of a time that is so difficult in a person’s life. It can be very intimate with patients and their families. Connecting them to resources like a dietitian, social worker, chaplain, or cancer psychologist – it removes a hurdle that can be very overwhelming, and it’s how I build relationships with them.”
Off the clock: “I grew up snow skiing, and that’s something I like to do at least once a year. In the meantime, I’m a big reader and I’ve been going through six to seven books a month lately. Mostly fiction books, just nothing too serious.”
Katie McInnes, B.S.N., RN
Unit Based Educator
Clements University Hospital, 10 Blue
“Katie is a great role model of what a nurse should be. She is dedicated to excellence, continuing education, patient satisfaction, and innovational approaches to improve patient care and staff engagement. She is the person you want by your side when times become challenging. We are blown away by the contributions Katie has made to our unit.”
UTSW career: Mrs. McInnes started working at UT Southwestern six years ago. She was intrigued by the prospect of working at an academic medical center and impressed by the first-rate facilities. Before becoming a nurse educator, she worked at the bedside for 15 years.
In her role: Part of her job is onboarding and helping to facilitate the professional development of nurses, patient care technicians (PCTs), and ancillary staff. “I really enjoy working on the floor once every two weeks because it lets me work alongside the nurses and really help them,” she said. “A lot of times we get residents who are fresh to nursing. It’s great to mentor them and help them invest in their success. Getting to know them at that point in their career is really a great thing.”
She’s got your back: “I like being a part of the unit. I’m available to nurses for ‘Just In Time’ training whenever they need it. I am the co-Chair of the Informatics Committee, so I participate heavily in that. I roll out any new education initiatives that are housewide on the unit. Otherwise, I just like to be a guiding hand and try to be supportive of the nurses and PCTs.”
Eureka: Mrs. McInnes has a reputation as an innovator, finding creative and efficient ways to share information with her team. She developed a very popular and effective training program based on TED Talk seminars. They last 18 minutes, allowing participants to better focus and retain what they’ve learned, and they’re 50% less costly to stage than traditional-style development meetings. She has also developed a collection device that reduced the number of times nurses must change ostomy bags and lines. Plus, Mrs. McInnes wrote an abstract that she presented at the 2022 ANCC Magnet Conference earlier this month.
Off the clock: “I have kids who are very involved in sports, so a lot of my time is spent at the ballpark and the volleyball court. But my favorite personal pastime is gardening. I love to watch things grow. We also love to travel whenever we get the chance.”
Patty O’Shea
Administrative Coordinator
Ambulatory Services
“Patty has always challenged her entire team to help produce results. She has encouraged and guided them to adapt to change and adopt forward-looking goals. Her exceptional leadership skills and utilization of resources are qualities I personally look up to.”
UTSW career: Mrs. O’Shea has worked at UT Southwestern for nearly 15 years, starting as a Senior Administrative Assistant.
In her role: Her team likens her to the conductor of an orchestra, making sure all the players stay in harmony. She supports the Associate Vice President and COO of Ambulatory Services and the rest of that team. Mrs. O’Shea said one of the most thrilling parts of the job is putting out fires by connecting busy executives when high-priority needs come through. She also loves mentoring and coaching the people around her.
A natural nurturer: “I have always taken care of people and supported them in some way,” Mrs. O’Shea said. “I don’t think I am qualified to ever be a nurse. I would tease the vice president who hired me by saying, ‘You’re a nurse, so you can take care of me that way. But let me take care of you the administrative way.’ She took a chance on me, and I’ve always been grateful for it because I just love every aspect of my job.”
It’s cool to be kind: “Being nice is something that is very important in this job. You have to be respectful of people, even if you have a disagreement. Otherwise, things turn negative. I’d rather be positive and keep moving forward. We don’t face the kind of emergencies they have in the Emergency Department. But there are issues: I forgot to tell you this or I need that. My attitude is: Sure, we’ll get it done. Whatever it takes.”
Off the clock: Mrs. O’Shea has created a nonprofit organization through which she helps incarcerated people get their lives back on track. She corresponds with inmates who otherwise would have no support system, aiming to steer their lives in a positive direction. She also spends weekends helping homeless people get back on their feet by doing things like helping them get their Social Security cards and driver’s licenses.
Demetrice Williams, M.A.
Program Coordinator, Practice Transitions
Nursing Education
“Demetrice embodies emotional intelligence, reading situations and remaining calm at all times. He is a beacon of teamwork, maintaining solid working relationships with multiple stakeholders throughout the organization.”
UTSW career: Mr. Williams started at UT Southwestern in December of 2018 and had an immediate impact. He helps nurses transition through the various stages of their development, starting with nurse residents through more advanced degrees.
In his role: Mr. Williams onboards and facilitates the development transitions of more than 300 new employees and six cohorts of nurse residents annually. His contributions have resulted in a nurse retention rate of more than 90% and his collaborative efforts with Dallas College have resulted in increasing pass rates for patient care technicians on their National Healthcareer Association certification.
Help me help you: “I love seeing new nurses transition through the phases of their development, helping them grow and become more confident,” Mr. Williams said. “That’s the one thing that really drives me and keeps me going forward – seeing them from the beginning, going from novice to expert. I like that. It’s what brings me joy.”
Best of both worlds: “I’m a nursing student, so it’s inspiring for me to see things from the academic perspective and bring what I learn back to decrease the gaps. I definitely like the corporate world of leadership, but I also like helping and nurturing people. Learning both sides – working at bedside and behind the scenes – gives me a perspective that will be valuable in helping me do my job in the future.”
Off the clock: Mr. Williams has recently begun to play tennis, sometimes getting up at 5 or 6 a.m. on weekends to head to the courts for a match.