Saltzer COO Matt Kaiserman with Eduardo Avendaño and his wife Hannah
A crisp salute to Eduardo Avendaño, an inventory control manager at Intermountain-owned Saltzer Health, who recently received the Employers Support of the Guard and Reserve Patriot Award for his support of a National Guard mission during a COVID-19 surge. Eduardo was nominated by Senior Master Sergeant David Oliver.
Senior Master Sergeant David Oliver and Master Sergeant Sean Bryson were deployed to Saltzer Health to help develop a way to distribute COVID-19 supplies and to streamline the testing samples logistics. In the nomination, Senior Master Sergeant Oliver thanked Eduardo for his unwavering support of the mission and for championing both Army and Air Force personnel working in the Saltzer facilities. For example, when Oliver contracted COVID-19, he says Avendano checked on him multiple times and offered to help his family in any way possible.
“I’m grateful for the phenomenal experience I had to work closely with the National Guard,” Eduardo says. “Senior Master Sergeant David Oliver and Master Sergeant Sean Bryson are solution-driven. They saw the problem and jotted down some patient-driven ideas.” Read more.
Dr. Shannon Baker, Dr. Maurine Cobabe, and Dr. Holly Timmons with Dr. Kathrine Hastings (back row of picture) from the University of Utah Department of Family Medicine.
Hats off to four providers from the West Jordan Clinic—Shannon Baker, MD, Maurine Cobabe, MD, Holly Timmons, MD, and Patrick Zimmerman, MD—and Mikio Obayashi, MD, from the Roy Clinic, who were recently recognized by the Family Medicine Department at the University of Utah for their efforts to support medical students. The West Jordan Clinic team received the “Outstanding Urban Clinic of the Year” award and Dr. Obayashi received the “Outstanding Rural/Underserved Preceptor of the Year” award. The award winners were selected by University of Utah School of Medicine students and faculty.
Both award descriptions read, “In recognition of your outstanding clinical teaching, service, and mentorship of medical students in the Family Medicine Clerkship and Preceptorship.”
Dr. Baker says third year medical students from the University of Utah have been doing clerkship rotations at the West Jordan Clinic for many years. The clinic takes four to six students each year. Each student spends one to two weeks with each provider and gets to see the different styles of patient care, be exposed to different procedures, and learn varied teaching techniques. Students also spend time in the West Jordan InstaCare, as well as do an overnight rural emergency room shift at Sevier Valley Hospital in Richfield, Utah with Dr. Zimmerman.
“We love having students and we think our clinic provides a unique environment for them to learn family medicine,” Dr. Baker says. “We all really enjoy teaching and have found it to be one of the best ways to overcome burnout in medicine; this is why we continue to do it. We hope we’re inspiring future family medicine doctors who will one day join us as part of Intermountain.”
Dr. Mikio Obayashi
This is the third time Dr. Obayashi has received the Outstanding Preceptor of the Year award since 2017. He says he’s grateful the U. has given him an opportunity to participate in their teaching program, and he’s grateful Intermountain has allowed him to help educate students.
“I’m very passionate about working with medical students,” Dr. Obayashi says. “I pour in a lot of time, energy, and effort to help them learn clinical medicine. I try to help them see how much impact we can make on our patients. More importantly, I try to help them feel the joy of practicing medicine. It’s very rewarding to see them progress, become outstanding physicians, and serve their medical communities. It was very nice to again be recognized for work that I do.”
Garrett Garcia with the Easter baskets he donated.
A round of applause for Garrett Garcia, a psych technician for the Behavioral Health Unit at Utah Valley Hospital, who recently went out of his way to ensure an often-forgotten group of patients had a great Easter.
Garrett noticed while working on the Behavioral Health Unit for nearly three years that their psychiatric patients are often left out during the holidays. He decided to raise some money so he could put together Easter baskets for patients in Utah Valley’s inpatient psychiatry department. Through his hard work he was able to raise more than $1,500 and rallied a group of more than 60 community members to come together to help him put baskets together.
Garrett quickly realized he’d raised enough money to provide baskets for more than just patients on his unit. He reached out to Safe Harbor, a nonprofit organization that provides services and shelter to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Garrett was able to also provide an Easter basket to all the women and children staying at the Safe Harbor shelter Easter weekend.
“Garrett’s empathy and effort to provide a meaningful Easter experience for those that are suffering is a testament to his commitment to Intermountain’s mission of helping others live the healthiest lives possible,” says Ashley Schlaich, MSN, department manager for inpatient psychiatry at Utah Valley.
