Seven Olympic Medical Center employees recently received recognition for their extensive work during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly their impacts on patient testing.

At a virtual OMC board of commissioners meeting, Chief Medical Officer Scott Kennedy, honored hospitalist services coordinator Anna Albright, laboratory technical specialist Dalyn Titterness, laboratory technical specialist Patty Wood, laboratory assistant Carie Metcalf and infection preventionist Kim Kummer.

“When COVID testing began affecting our work flow and procedures, these staff members stepped up to facilitate new requirements and processes,” Kennedy said.

While public health notified patients with positive COVID-19 test results, Albright took on the workload of sending letters out to emergency department and hospital patients that had negative test results and were no longer in the hospital, OMC representatives said.

Titterness, Wood and Metcalf have been instrumental in facilitating COVID-19 testing through Olympic Medical’s lab for tests done in-house and those sent to the University of Washington lab, they said.

As infection preventionist, Kummer is deeply involved in the coronavirus response at OMC, center officials noted last week.

“Kim has been a tremendous resource during the COVID-19 pandemic; she works tirelessly in close coordination with Clallam County Public Health, Olympic Medical’s Incident Command Team and staff on preparedness, policies and best practices for preventing spread of COVID among patients and healthcare workers at OMC,” Kennedy said.

Jennifer Burkhardt, OMCs’ Chief Human Resources Officer and General Counsel, recognized Jon Critchfield, employee health and wellness coordinator, and Jasmine Birkland, employee health certified medical assistant.

OMC representatives said Critchfield and Birkland have met many demands, from the COVID-19 pandemic, and aligned guidance from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Washington State Department of Health,Occupational Safety and Health Administration, University of Washington and other leading institutions along with labor agreements to develop processes and policies that protect OMC’s nearly 1,600 employees.

Those efforts included working weekends, to working with education to implement an N-95 Fit Testing program.

“Jon and Jasmine have demonstrated immense dedication and abundant patience,” Burkhardt said. “The amount of work Jon and Jasmine have had to tackle and organize since the pandemic started has been tremendous, yet, they continue to provide compassionate and professional support, while answering questions and conducting employee screenings.”