| Community Report |
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Judy Hodgson, Senior Vice President, Organizational Development |  |
July of this year, PeaceHealth was named one of the honorees for the 2004 International Spirit at Work Award. This prestigious award is given by the Association for Spirit at Work, a global organization founded in 1993 that “serves the spirituality in the workplace and the faith in the workplace communities.” PeaceHealth is among 10 organizations from around the world (seven in the United States) selected to receive this award, aimed at transferring the knowledge gained by award-winning companies into the general business community, so that others can learn from their examples.
Janet Muller, a data analyst in the PeaceHealth Lower Columbia Region’s Center for Health Care Improvement, initiated the application for the award. Inspired by her own experiences at PeaceHealth, Janet worked with me to complete the application.
“It wasn’t that some of the challenges in my work environment were so different from other places, but the open access to senior leaders, their listening presence, and their congruent example of the PeaceHealth values were completely unique,” Janet said. “It was easy to tell a story of healing and compassionate care when there was so much from which to choose that lifted my own heart.”
In
September, I was pleased to travel with Janet to Zurich, Switzerland
to accept the International Spirit at Work Award on behalf of the
9,000-plus caregivers throughout PeaceHealth whose commitment,
enthusiasm, and spirit made it possible. It was a wonderful
experience to learn from other organizations around the world who
are on their own journey to reclaim the spirit in their workplace.
Many were very interested in what we are doing at PeaceHealth.
The beautiful award itself is currently on it’s own ‘road trip,’ making a stop at each PeaceHealth regions so that all PeaceHealth employees can share this honor.
I hope everyone will take a moment to view the International Spirit at Work Award while it travels across our health care system. This lovely crystal award truly reflects the Spirit of PeaceHealth and the compassion and dedication of our caregivers.