BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro Memorial Hospital recently recognized Wanda Smith as 2014 BMH Employee of the Year.
An employee at BMH since 1980, Smith was chosen to receive this honor due to her longtime dedication, attentiveness to safety and cleanliness, respect for patient privacy, positive attitude and sense of humor, and pride in a job well done.
Smith works in the Environmental Services Department. She was recognized as BMH's employee of the month in November 2009.
According to the BMH proclamation read at the award presentation, “Wanda can always be counted on for a smile and a kind word. Although it's not in her job description, it's not at all beyond her to extend a helping hand to the family and friends of a patient, as well as the patient, and she is often mentioned on HCAHPS surveys.”
According to the website for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (www.cms.gov), the HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey is the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients' perspectives of hospital care. HCAHPS, pronounced H-caps, is a survey instrument and data collection methodology for measuring patients' perceptions of their hospital experience.
Richard Nelson, BMH's facilities manager, has worked with Smith for 33 of her 34 years on the job at BMH. Throughout those years, he said, “Wanda has consistently demonstrated a commitment to our patients' welfare by focusing on the principles of infection control and by embracing the tenets of customer service. Wanda possesses a very highly developed sense of both of these essential perspectives.”
He noted that Smith has been a stellar member of the Environmental Services staff for more than three decades, saying, “This facility would be a poorer place without her service and care.”
Smith, a deaconess at her church and participant in Relay for Life, is described by many who know her as the person who raises funds for those in need and offers a ride and friendship to elderly friends who are housebound. She has even adopted some of these friends into her family circle for holidays.
Smith's commitment to BMH and the community is surpassed only by her commitment to family. She and her husband, Richard, have two sons, Michael and Ricky, and two grandchildren, Austin and Jade. She said she loves vacationing in Wells, Maine.