For Greene County News
XENIA — Xenia residents Lisa Dudley and Deborah Swigart have the honor of being nominated to represent Soin Medical Center and Greene Memorial Hospital for the 2016 Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) Healthcare Worker of the Year.
Lisa and Deborah have a passion for working at their Kettering Health Network’s respective hospitals and are humbled by the nomination.
Dudley is originally from Chillicothe where she graduated from Zane Trace High School, and is a US Army veteran. She is a nursing assistant in a Medical/Surgical unit.
“Being nominated for the OHA Healthcare Worker of the Year is a huge honor, especially when you are being recognized for doing something that you love doing,” she said.
Dudley believes, “To be good at what you do, I think it takes patience, compassion, understanding and love.”
When she’s not at work she loves spending time with her family which consists of husband of 13 years William and seven children, three grandsons and three dogs.
Proud to work at Soin, Dudley said, “I’ve never worked anywhere like Soin before. So many caring people who are really good at what they do. Everybody here cares, and it shows. I love working here. Kettering Health Network is made up of so many good hospitals.”
She knows first-hand just how good the hospitals are when her youngest son Jason was born at Kettering in the NICU.
“The nurses were so good with him and so caring. I’m glad I work for a place that cares so much about their patients,” she added.
A lifelong Xenia resident, Deborah Swigart has been married to her husband Tom for 39 years. They have two daughters and five grandchildren.
She is a 1974 Xenia High School graduate with a degree from Clark State Community College. Currently Swigart is continuing her education at Kettering College.
“Being nominated for this award is exciting and very humbling,” said Swigart. “I feel honored.”
Working her entire career at Greene Memorial Hospital she said, “I like the closeness that comes with being a small town hospital. I know a lot of the patients who come into the emergency room by first name and seeing a familiar face when they come into the emergency room has to be reassuring. Everyone at Greene is like an extended family.”
When Swigart is not working, she loves working in her three gardens and walking her two dogs. She and her children love to boat and camp in the summer and looks forward to more family experiences.
She believes a good healthcare worker must be “very understanding, listen well and treat everyone with respect.”
One healthcare worker will receive the Ohio Hospital Association Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award on June 14 at the annual OHA meeting in Columbus. The award is presented each year to one Ohio caregiver who personifies a leader, gives back to the community, reflects the mission and values of his or her organization and routinely goes beyond the call of duty.
