Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie Employee named Employee of the Year By Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council
Contact: Ashley Howland, 214-820-7540Email: ashlehow@baylorhealth.edu
(WAXAHACHIE, Texas, May 9, 2007)-Leslie Stephens, respiratory therapist at Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie, has been chosen as an Employee of the Year by the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council. She will be honored at the DFW Hospital Council Employee of the Year Luncheon, Thursday, May 17.
Stephens has been a respiratory therapist at Baylor Waxahachie for nine years. During her career, she developed Baylor Waxahachie's first tobacco cessation program after seeing a need in the community. She regularly volunteers to assist in the hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) and developed new educational materials for the Respiratory Therapy Department.
She is known for her compassion toward her patients. According to co-workers, she often spends her own time and money to provide toys to ill or injured children in the Emergency Department and delivers Easter baskets every year to patients and families within the hospital.
"Leslie exemplifies Baylor's values of integrity, servanthood, quality, innovation and stewardship," says Jay Fox, president, Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie. "She consistently goes above and beyond the call of duty to serve her patients, our community and this hospital."
In addition, Stephens is dedicated to respiratory therapy education at her alma mater, Tarrant County College (TCC). She developed and oversees the Baylor New Horizon Scholarship for respiratory therapy students and established the Compassionate Heart Scholarship, awarded each year to a student who shows the most compassion toward their patients.
"Leslie promotes teamwork, has a positive attitude, is dependable, committed and enthusiastic," says Sue Simmons, director of cardiopulmonary services, Baylor Waxahachie. "She takes every opportunity to promote the field of respiratory therapy and we are fortunate to have her on our team."
In her spare time, Stephens volunteers with the Special Olympics, an event in which she has dedicated her time for the last seven years. She serves on several boards and committees such as The Advisory Board for the TCC Respiratory Program and the Baylor Waxahachie Outpatient Council. She volunteers at Navarro College and the Baylor Louise Herrington School of Nursing where she teaches respiratory therapy modalities to nursing students.
For the past 11 years, the DFW Hospital Council has honored non-executive hospital employees with its annual Employee of the Year Luncheon. This special event acknowledges hospital employees from across the North Texas Region. Awards are given to worthy employees from three categories of hospitals based on bed size. There are also five special recognition recipients and a community service award.
Baylor Medical Center at Waxahachie is a not-for-profit hospital dedicated to providing technologically advanced medical care closer to home for residents of southern Dallas and Ellis Counties. In response to its growing communities, Baylor Waxahachie continues to grow its services and expand its medical staff. For fiscal year 2006, Baylor Health Care System reported $405.6 million in community benefit to the Texas Department of State Health Services.