A fellow employee nominated Rhoda and had the following to say about her:

“Rhoda has been employed full-time at Golden Valley Memorial Hospital (GVMH) since 1980. She started cooking in our vegetable area. She quickly learned other positions and can do any position in the food services area. She oversees the salad area that includes keeping staff training materials up-to-date. She also monitors food and equipment temperatures for federal compliance. She recently became a relief dietetic technician which is an integral part of our GVMH nutrition care process. Rhoda became a certified dietary manager (CDM) many years ago attending night school in Columbia, MO. She is also a certified food protection provider (CFPP).

Rhoda’s initiative, versatility and creativity have been displayed in many ways. She participated in this year’s GVMH baby shower by providing the food protection handouts to help our ‘moms’ prevent food borne illness. She provides continuing education for staff by bringing back programs from workshops she attends or articles she reads. Most recently she put together a Power Point (with the help of IT) on ‘survey readiness’ for the food services department. She participated in her first ever poster in March 07 for ADA’s National Nutrition Month sharing it on the Eatery bulletin board for all staff. Rhoda organizes our patient tray-ticket filing system, an undaunting task with 13 days of menus for 20 or so different diets. Rhoda’s behind the scenes efforts makes everyone’s day better. 

Rhoda is a ‘Silver’ customer service recipient. She is a team player. One example of her cooperative nature was when a patient did not want any foods containing Splenda and another diet tech was reviewing the menu choices to see what could be offered. Rhoda volunteered to go into the kitchen storage are to look up the food label information so that the patient could have as many choices as possible. She has pulled several double shifts during the past year to assist with staff shortages. Rhoda has taken on all of our office supply ordering over the past few years. She also makes certain to have copies available for patient tray tickets, mealtime production tallying, etc. She is efficient at keeping our manual patient cardex updated and for letting the cooks know when to change their cook tally due to patient admission/dismissal.

Rhoda maintains a positive attitude throughout her work day and is often seen cheering people up when they’re having a rough day. She often brings in baked goodies or treats for the staff and vendors to enjoy. Recently when we celebrated Healthcare Foodservice Worker Week, Rhoda joined with other supervisors to provide a surprise meal for foodservice staff! She always gets small gifts for each employee at Christmas and often brings in other items for other holidays. Rhoda likes to see staff have an enjoyable day doing their job. She is always very pleasant and treats staff and guests with respect and dignity. Rhoda, under the supervision of a RD, LD, has started training as one of our dietetic technicians. She has had to learn many new tasks including drug food interaction education, modified diet education and MediTech PCS!

Rhoda has lived in the Clinton area for nearly 30 years. She has two grown sons, twins, Johnny and Denis. Her daughter-in-law, Melissa, is a Registered Nurse on the medical floor. She is a proud mamma and grandma. She likes to spend time spoiling her grandchildren or attending Johnny’s performances. She is active in the local and state dietary manager’s association serving as the district secretary for the local organization and is travel chair with the state. Rhoda keeps current in her field, often funding many educations expenses out of pocket. Rhoda supports GVMH activities as well as community events. Most recently, she was a participant in the Cancer Society’s Relay for life.”

In being named Staff Member of the Month, Rhoda was given a corsage, a $100.00 gift certificate, and a special parking place for the month. Her name will be engraved on a plaque to be permanently displayed in the hospital. Rhoda is also one of twelve finalists for the 2008-2009 Staff Member of the Year award.

Congratulations, Rhoda!