Greater Shelby Chamber recognizes healthcare professionals
The Greater Shelby County Chamber of Commerce recognized exceptional healthcare professionals at its luncheon on Aug. 26.
This is the first presentation of the Healthcare Professional of the Year award, which the Chamber’s Health Services Work Group created to recognize those who keep the workforce healthy.
“We had one simple goal in mind, and that was to recognize individuals in the healthcare community in the greater Shelby County area who serve our community everyday,” said Matthew Allen, chair of the Health Services Work Group and marketing manager for 280 Living.
Allen said the work group was looking for candidates who were dedicated to their field and to helping others, who were accomplished and outstanding in their goals and who had achieved outstanding status among their peers.
“I am pleased to say everybody being recognized today went above and beyond meeting those criteria,” Allen said.
Eleven healthcare professionals from varying fields received the award. Rep. April Weaver also received the Healthcare Advocate of the Year award for her work on the Gabe Griffin Right to Try Act, which was signed into law in June. The legislation allows terminally ill patients the opportunity to try medication that the Food and Drug Administration has not approved.
Zelia Baugh of Baptist Health System also spoke at the chamber luncheon, discussing habits that might hamper productivity.
“I’m here to talk today about the fallacy of multi-tasking,” Baugh said.
While many people believe they are able to accomplish more by multi-tasking, Baugh said that is not true. Rather than allow simultaneous focus on multiple tasks, Baugh said your brain must switch between those tasks, leading to a loss in time and productivity.
“When you have multiple employees and multiple leaders in the organization who think they’re really adept at multitasking, research from the University of London has shown there is a 40 percent drop in productivity,” Baugh said.
Baugh also said individuals who think they’re better at multi-tasking tend to have higher stress levels and burnout. To combat the negative affects of multi-tasking, Baugh suggested turning off mobile notifications and turning off email alerts on your computer.
“When any of those ping, we stress when we cannot immediately respond to the notification being sent,” she said. “You can feel it in your body, some of you.”
By minimizing the number of notifications received, it becomes easier to stay focused on a task. Even if an email alert seems minor, Baugh said it causes you to refocus on the email, which means refocusing again on the former task. Baugh also said minimizing these distractions allows for more productive workflow and communication.
“I think that’s what we’re missing in society,” Baugh said. “We’ve become so used to technology that it actually has created walls and barriers between us and a coworker or a boss or whatever, because it’s easier to send an email than it is to talk sometimes.”
Award recipients included:
- Dietary Health – Donna Sibley, dietician with St. Vincent’s 119
- Health Administration – Stephanie Holderby, executive director at St. Vincent’s 119
- Home Health – Donald Perrin, home health clinical manager with Amedisys Home Health of Birmingham
- Nursing – Jan Cibulski, head nurse for Shelby County Schools
- Obstetrics – Dr. Rupa Goolsby, OB/GYN with St. Vincent’s Health
- Optometry – Dr. Jessica Palmer, optometrist with Narrows Family Eye Care
- Orthopedic Medicine – Dr. Mike Patterson, orthopedic surgeon with Lemak Health
- Palliative Care – Michele Carter, coordinator of supportive and palliative care with Shelby Baptist Medical Center
- Physical Therapy – Russ Hyde, director of physical therapy with Shelby Baptist Medical Center
- Psychiatry – Shanan Sims, director of psychiatry with Shelby Baptist Medical Center
- Sports Medicine – Dr. James Sedlis, primary care sports medicine physician with Lemak Health
- Healthcare Advocate of the Year – Rep. April Weaver
The next luncheon is Sept. 30 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. This luncheon is the Annual Safety Awards Luncheon. Reservations should be made before Sept. 28.