1. Message from the President
Loren B. Hamel, MD
President & CEO, Lakeland Health
P U L S E
Editor of the Pulse:
Jessica Hines
Director of Marketing &
Chief Communications Officer:
Megan Yore
Lakeland Health publishes the
Pulse for our associates, volunteers,
and physicians. Story ideas for this
publication must be submitted
at least four weeks in advance of
publication dates and are subject
to approval and editing by the
Marketing department.
For a complete list of distribution
dates and to access archived
issues, visit the Pulse homepage
at myLakeland.
Within the health system, please mail
correspondence to:
Jessica Hines
jmhines@lakelandhealth.org
Outside the health system,
please mail correspondence to:
Pulse
Marketing and Communications
Lakeland at Meadowbrook
2550 Meadowbrook Road, Suite 201
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
Phone: (269) 927-5271
Fax: (269) 927-5232
Visit us on the web at:
www.lakelandhealth.org
Remember to “like” us on
Facebook, watch us on
YouTube, and follow us
on Twitter.
Our Mission
To enhance health and
serve our community
Our Vision
To positively transform
healthcare and the
health choices of those
we serve and employ
They had a lot of choices. But these
generous friends of Lakeland decided
they would set aside funds to invest in
Lakeland team members.
It all comes together this time of year when
we get to give away their money.
If you missed it, that's what happened last
week. David Burghart, President of the
Lakeland Foundation, hosted the Annual
Health Careers Reception where a total
of $117,000 was given away in the form of
48 scholarships and 75 department grants.
Over the past 23 years, the Lakeland Health
Foundation has awarded over $1 million in
scholarships and grants to Lakeland team
members, departments, and volunteers.
That has been made possible largely by
the generosity of dear friends of Lakeland.
They have set up endowments with the
Lakeland Foundation for the sole purpose
of investing in the education and training
of those associated with Lakeland.
New this year, all team members at Lakeland
were eligible to receive scholarships
and grants. Instead of hosting separate
receptions, the Lakeland Health Foundation
held a system-wide reception at The Howard
Performing Arts Center on the campus of
Andrews University. There were attendees
from the St. Joseph, Niles, and Watervliet
hospitals as well as Southwestern Medical
Clinic, Hospice at Home, Lory’s Place,
and Lakeland Medical Practices.
One of the evening's highlights was
the Leo Soorus Leadership award. It is
given to an individual who demonstrates
exemplary leadership skills. This year's
award was presented to Tyson Stewart
of the Connect-IT team.
Tyson's leadership role at Lakeland is
unique in that it is entirely a volunteer
role. He has made invaluable leadership
contributions to several very important
initiatives. The Radar Project helped
Lakeland to ensure that our investment
in an electronic health record resulted
in clinical and financial returns on our
investment. Our HIMSS 7 certification,
the first in our state and our region, was
validation that Lakeland ranked in the top
few percent in the nation on our journey to
a safe, paperless medical record. And most
recently, the Davies Award was proof that
our team leads the world when it comes to
using an electronic health record to save
money and save lives.
Through his leadership, Tyson has
exemplified Lakeland TRAITS; he has added
to Lakeland's "Triple Aim" of improving
health, improving health care, and lowering
cost; and he has been instrumental in
inspiring exemplary performance across
multiple departments.
Great work Tyson!
As you think about your year ahead, is there
something you would like to learn? Is there a
certification that would help you do your job
even better? Are there projects you would
like to lead? Contact your manager, your HR
business partner, or the Lakeland Foundation.
Maybe we could invest more in you, too.
2 PULSE - a newsletter for associates, volunteers and physicians of Lakeland Health
Message from
Investing in Us.