Message from the CEO
Chuck Gijanto
Interim President and CEO
April 22, 2022
Happy National Lab and Volunteer Week
Good morning all and happy Friday!
We are celebrating a couple of weeks this week and so I would like to share a couple of thoughts on that.
It is National Laboratory Week, this occurs each year in the last full week of April. Lab Week, which originated in 1975, provides an opportunity to increase public awareness and understanding, and appreciation for laboratory professionals. The Laboratory is a very interesting place, and so much happens there. For most of us though, it is out of site other than seeing the phlebotomists out and about collecting blood. These folks labor in anonymity, but without all of the testing they do, diagnosis and treatment would be almost impossible. There are many subspecialties in the Lab, and the equipment they use has gotten so sophisticated. Turnaround times have continued to get better and better and as we all know, the sooner we can get to a diagnosis the quicker we can get to treatment which is a good thing. If you see a lab worker out and about congratulate them on their national week!
We are also excited here at Oneida in that an announcement was made this week on a new Lab manager after months of searching for just the right person. I am a big believer in fit and chemistry (no pun intended) are critical to an organization and the departments within it and it feels like we have made the right choice with our new manager. So a big welcome to Roberta Demoski who will be joining us in late May.
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It is also National Volunteer Week. National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 to recognize and celebrate the efforts of volunteers across the country. This is a time to honor and thank hospital volunteers for their commitment to patient care and their compassion toward patients, staff, and the community. Let’s face it, hospitals are very busy places and even when there is full staffing (which is everyone’s dream right now), there is more to do than we can always get done. Volunteers give freely of their time and talents to pitch in and help fill the gaps and support the work that we all do.
For Oneida Health, these folks have been incredibly important for us in so many ways, not to mention keeping a strong and positive connection with the communities we serve. Like many organizations, Covid has impacted us in so many ways. Not only did we lose staff during the height of the pandemic, but we also lost a lot of volunteers. Many of them had been with us for many years and for a while and just haven’t been ready to return yet. So this is a time for us to begin to rebuild our volunteer ranks, if you happen to know anyone who might have an interest in volunteering, who you think would be a good fit for us, please either have them reach out to Andrea Narrow or give her their contact information and we could reach out to them.
In the meantime to our amazing volunteers, thank you for all you do for Oneida Health, our residents and patients, and our staff! We couldn’t do this without you!
Sincerely,
Chuck Gijanto
Interim President and CEO
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