Each quarter, Uteam Members of the Month from the Medical Center, School of Medicine, and UVA Physicians Group (UPG) are recognized for outstanding service to UVA Health and their commitment to our ASPIRE core values: Accountability, Stewardship, Professionalism, Integrity, Respect, and Excellence.

Below are the honorees for the first quarter of 2022. Click a name to read an excerpt from the corresponding nomination (and leave a comment below to thank the honorees for their dedication to our patients and each other!). Congratulations, team!

Nominations have been edited for clarity and privacy.

MEDICAL CENTER

• January 2022 Uteam Member of the Month: Irene Reeder, Transplant Financial Coordinator, Transplant
• February 2022 Uteam Member of the Month: Victoria Collier, Supervisor, Sterile Processing
• March 2022 Uteam Member of the Month: Catherine Crothers, RN, Surgery Admission Suite

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

• January 2022 Uteam Member of the Month: Tammy Mawyer, Senior Administrative Assistant, Pediatrics Neonatology
• Febaruary 2022 Uteam Member of the Month: Kate Schoenster, Intermediate Administrative Coordinator, Pediatrics
• March 2022 Uteam Member of the Month: Pamela Bondurant, Senior Medical Office Coordinator, Neurology

UPG

• March 2022 Uteam Member of the Month: Charlene Bowman, Medical Office Assistant Senior, UVA Pediatrics Harrisonburg

Medical Center

Irene Reeder, Transplant Financial Coordinator, Transplant
January 2022 Uteam Member of the Month

"Irene Reeder has worked in Transplant as a financial coordinator for almost 7 years. She is dedicated, hard-working, and, most importantly, always has our patients’ best interest at heart. Irene makes sure patients are financially prepared for transplant. She works in an environment that is high-volume and fast-paced. Irene meets face to face with patients and their families, frequently under very stressful circumstances. It’s not unusual for Irene to meet with an uninsured inpatient who needs to be worked up urgently for a heart or liver transplant. Patients appreciate Irene’s knowledge and calm and caring manner as she helps them access resources. Transplant’s business office is currently severely short staffed. As a result, Irene is primarily responsible for helping all pre- and post- pediatric and adult heart, lung, and liver patients with any financial questions that arise.

"Irene takes everything in stride and never complains. She is the employee who can be depended on to make it to the office on snow days and comes in early and works late to ensure our patients’ needs are met. Irene just recently added heart patients to her already full-time workload.

"Meaghan Young, one of our LVAD/Heart Transplant Nurse Practitioners, had this to say about Irene: 'Irene has stepped right in to her new challenges at work, and she does it with a smile all the time! I am always impressed with how fast and efficient Irene is with urgent matters; she is totally on the ball. She is also willing and open to learning all the new nuances with the heart team, most notably, and is just doing an awesome job!!! I can’t say enough good things about Irene Reeder. She is an exemplary employee, and I can’t think of any else who is more deserving of an ASPIRE award.'"

BACK TO TOP

Victoria Collier, Supervisor, Sterile Processing
February 2022 Uteam Member of the Month

"We are excited to nominate Victoria Collier for a Uteam Member of the Month award. Victoria is a highly caring, compassionate, and positive role model. She serves as a go-to resource for any issues and challenges that arise in the department and is highly regarded by her stakeholders. Victoria consistently displays a helpful, can-do attitude which is infectious to those around her.

"Examples of Victoria demonstrating ASPIRE values include the following:

• She has quickly excelled in her role as supervisor. Victoria has helped to improve her team’s morale as well as their efficiency and effectiveness. Her team shares that they are excited to come to work and are proud to speak to the many complex processes and demands of being a part of the Sterile Processing team. They display more confidence and have become self-motivated to get started.
• Victoria demonstrated exceptional leadership excellence during the recent Joint Commission survey including providing expert support to UVA Health clinical and SPD areas in response to conditional findings. She arrived to work early performing rounding and consulting with many clinical areas in their instrument related work. UVA Health was able to achieve accreditation directly as a result of Victoria’s assistance!
• Victoria has helped maintain a very low instrument error rate, which has directly contributed to helping the Outpatient Surgery Center achieve on-time case starts and maintain high levels of provider and patient satisfaction."

BACK TO TOP

Catherine Crothers, RN, Surgery Admission Suite
March 2022 Uteam Member of the Month

"A patient recently wrote an email to the Human Resources Solutions Center regarding the care she received while in our department: 'I am writing to give my thanks to Cathy Crothers who was my nurse for most of the day. I was diagnosed with cancer and had surgery on that day. My family could not join me due to COVID numbers, so Cathy was my sole support. She works so hard! She is smart, friendly, proficient, and caring. I was amazed at how she handled all the technical details of the machines, etc. All the while keeping me calm and ready for the surgery. I had never had surgery or ever even been in the hospital before, and I was terrified! But Cathy's diligence and thoughtfulness kept me calm. I am deeply grateful to her care for me and I hope that this message can be shared with Cathy and her supervisor. Cathy deserves recognition for her excellent work! Thank you, Cathy!'

"In addition, Cathy was recognized by an OR colleague for her assistance with a patient who was admitted for a caesarean section birth in the Main OR. The parents were primarily non-English speaking, and Cathy teamed up with one of our clinical interpreters to provide patient-centric care. Cathy 'went the extra mile to find the father when he left SAS and went to the garage. We didn't have the correct phone number, and she found the alternate number and contacted him to return to SAS. He was able to be in the room for the birth of his baby.'

"These patient care encounters are strong examples of Cathy's dedication to her patients and the professionalism and excellence with which she conducts herself. Cathy expertly demonstrated the confidence and ability to deliver patient-centered, individualized care that addressed both the physical and emotional needs of her patients. Cathy is a valued UVA Health team member, and we appreciate her!"

BACK TO TOP

School of Medicine

Tammy Mawyer, Senior Administrative Assistant, Pediatrics Neonatology
January 2022 Uteam Member of the Month

"Dear Committee,

"Tammy is an outstanding employee and makes a positive impact on our team. She continuously takes on additional work in our department and goes beyond the goals set for our department. Even when her plate is full, she maintains a positive attitude and offers assistance to all. She is a go-to person and even fills in for others when they are out. Her ability to step in and help get caught up is amazing. She is a model employee and truly makes a big difference in our department. Tammy is a star who shines, and we are proud to have her on our team and a colleague."

BACK TO TOP

Kate Schoenster, Intermediate Administrative Coordinator, Pediatrics
February 2022 Uteam Member of the Month

Nomination 1

"Kate takes it upon herself to provide exceptional support and service to new faculty and staff. She always makes sure our new faculty/staff has everything they need and makes sure each division knows what they need to provide. She also helps guide our faculty and staff with life changes, such as maternity leave, parental leave, and retirement. She always makes you feel as though you're a priority. Kate is instrumental to our department. She always has a positive and can-do attitude. She listens to your needs and figures out the best way to help."

Nomination 2

"Kate does a wonderful job in coordinating onboarding and offboarding, resolving HR-related matters, and managing the Peds Portal: Salesforce. She readily shares information and will find an answer if she doesn't know it."

Nomination 3

"Kate Schoenster has been such a great and impactful addition to our department. When I think of our ASPIRE values, I see so clearly professionalism and respect in Kate's work. During COVID, Kate was my right hand in working with employees to understand the different implications of salary reductions and furloughs. She treats people how she would want to be treated and handles sensitive employee issues with the highest level of confidence. We are very lucky to have Kate in Pediatrics!"

Nomination 4

"Kate Schoenster is the type of coworker everyone needs in their life. Though it is not her responsibility, she is essentially the first person you think to go to within our department if you need guidance in any aspect of your job. She is the person that makes you feel comfortable asking for clarification or guidance when you don't understand a process or procedure. Many times, she has offered to help coworkers by creating tutorial videos or hosting one-on-one mini teaching Zoom sessions. She’s even offered to come in on her day off to help if one-on-one if in-person assistance is needed. Though her primary responsibilities can be funneled down to Employment Cycle Coordinator, she is involved in all things HR, such as onboarding, offboarding, etc. She also co-manages the implementation of a web-based program within SalesForce that has without a doubt improved communication and access within our department. She’s done a remarkable job configuring his program to best suit our needs. We can make a suggestion of something to add to the program, and in less than a half a days’ time, she has the suggested revision implemented, up, and running. She has improved our knowledge and understanding of all things administrative within Pediatrics. She’s helped us grow tremendously, and I’m so thankful to have her as a valued resource and friend. She’s simply invaluable and absolutely amazing!"

BACK TO TOP

Pamela Bondurant, Senior Medical Office Coordinator, Neurology
March 2022 Uteam Member of the Month

Nomination 1

"Pam consistently goes above and beyond the duties of an administrator at the School of Medicine (SOM). She has a background in administrative access and helps facilitate urgent appointments. This has significantly improved the quality of care provided for our patients, as they are able to access appointments in a timely way or adjust the appointments for convenience (e.g., because of living a distance away or due to severe disability).

"This has been an essential part of my practice in the last few months as our access staff has significantly reduced in size to less than 50% of capacity, and so this has also improved my quality of life and allowed me to focus on SOM projects rather than spending time scheduling my patient’s appointments.

"Pam has been especially sensitive to the needs of our patients with our patients who have a rare neurological condition myasthenia gravis (MG). One of our MG patients needed to nap every afternoon in order to be able to speak and swallow in the evenings. She made it a point of checking to make sure visits in my clinic or through telehealth were scheduled around this time so that this patient’s care was not disturbed. Disruption of this could lead to worsening dysphagia which could put the patient at higher risk of aspiration or other complications. Pam has also supported me consistently as a professional.

"She has supported growth in my career, despite challenges that our division has faced during the pandemic (e.g., illness of colleagues). Her accessibility and availability are admirable. She is only a quick phone call or email away, which is something that I find both reassuring and necessary to help my practice flourish.

"She has supported some of my more challenging patients who are grappling with life-and-death situations by simply reaching out and checking on them and their families, and as such, she has grown very close to families and lends a personal touch to the care I provide.

"Moreover, she has never overstepped her responsibilities as an administrative staff, and if the patient’s condition or symptoms are beyond what a supportive ear can lend, she seeks to escalate the situation in an orderly way. I consider Pam to be an essential part of our team. Her efforts have enhanced the care that I provided to my patients, my responsibilities as a clinician educator, and my ability to be a leader in neurology in the region. She upholds the ASPIRE values on a daily basis, and her efforts have been consistent across several years."

Nomination 2

"Pam is a wonderful and selfless person. She exhibits the utmost professionalism in her work. Pam acknowledges mistakes (which are few and far between!) and always learns from them. She is ever respectful and caring. She is beloved by both colleagues and patients. It means the world to me to know that I can always rely on Pam. She truly is an indispensable member of our clinical team."

BACK TO TOP

UPG

Charlene Bowman, Medical Office Assistant Senior, UVA Pediatrics Harrisonburg
March 2022 Uteam Member of the Month

"Charlene is always willing to help. She does referrals and takes time to help patients when they are checking in or out with making appointments or just questions that they need answering. She goes above and beyond her job to make sure that nurses and doctors get what they need to make their day a lot smoother. She is always helpful to new hires. And helps to make sure they are comfortable in their job. She assists in putting in extra appointments when needed. She is always does this with a smile. She has been with this pediatric office for 18 years. I think she shows ASPIRE values in all aspects of her daily work.

"There has not been a day that has gone by that Charlene does not promote helpfulness, positivity, kindness, and competency regarding her job and being a connection between our providers and nursing staff and our patients and parents.

"Through our transition in computer systems from a private practice system to now Epic with UVA, Charlene has been involved in her medical office assistant role in scheduling. Sometimes, the hardest part about scheduling is using one of the features to search and acquire an appointment for a patient. Occasionally, you will find that when you are trying to schedule a same-day appointment, the system may skip ahead to a future available spot. This happens without the screen changing and allows booking. When an oversight is made, such as this, Charlene always makes a decision and seeks a result that accommodates both the patient and parent. 

"If you happened to be a fly on the wall at the front desk of our office you would always see Charlene shine; she treats others as if they were members of her family. She recognizes patients and parents by name, asks how they have been, and if their families are OK. You would truly get the feeling that she has known these patients and parents for years and years (and most of the time, she has)."

BACK TO TOP