Best Ever Employee of the Month

MAY 2018

Helen San Montrose

Where to start? Helen is a certified rock star, and she is doing AMAZING work at MOP. She immediately jumped on board with the myStrength pilot study program and began bringing the parents of clients into the myStrength rooms so they can get signed up for the program while Helen and the client complete the intake. She can complete an intake in an hour, bilingually and collaboratively! Helen goes above and beyond to ensure a thorough intake and overall client satisfaction. She has worked tirelessly not only to learn the open access process but to improve it as well! Helen is an advocate for clients and her co-workers. She inspires clients to pursue their goals and she inspires me too. Helen brings her Best Ever every single day. She is willing to go the extra mile and has been an incredible addition to the team!

History of Best Ever Award on following pages:

2018 Best Ever Employee of the Month

JANUARY 2018 FEBRUARY 2018 MARCH 2018

Heather Darbe Arel Armour Jen Tipton Admin Admin Ridgway

Heather should be duplicated. She brings everything she has to her work, and the lives she has touched and saved are countless. The way she cares and gives of herself gives me goosebumps. She is the type of person that truly loves, and the kindness in her heart is limited to no one. What she does every single day is awe inspiring; it's not one specific event that makes her great, it's what she does consistently that makes her great.

Arel assisted grant writer Janey Sorensen when her computer lost a grant document she had been working on. Janey wrote: “Arel called me and kept reassuring me that we could find the document. He took over my computer and I watched as he looked and looked for it with no result. All we could come up with was a previously saved document. I was ready to give up when he started looking in one more place, and there it was. I felt like Christmas morning when I was 6 years old. Please give Arel a thumbs-up today. He is a quiet and effective champion for the Center. Thank you, Arel.”

Jen is such a team player. Her professionalism and enthusiasm to create a welcome environment is contagious. Way to go Jen! Congratulations!

APRIL 2018 MAY 2018 JUNE 2018

Elizabeth Dufek Helen San Delta Montrose

Elizabeth is a supervisor worthy of respect. She jumps in and helps with intakes, front office work, even landscaping! I saw her outside picking up cigarette butts! She is one of the first ones here every day and one of the last ones to leave. She means what she says and says what she means. She always has a smile on her face and is quick to forgive mistakes made by her employees. She is open to hearing ideas of how to improve things and her door is always open. She is a woman of integrity, of honor and I am blessed beyond measure to work for such an amazing woman.

Where to start? Helen is a certified rock star, and she is doing AMAZING work at MOP. She immediately jumped on board with the myStrength pilot study program and began bringing the parents of clients into the myStrength rooms so they can get signed up for the program while Helen and the client complete the intake. She can complete an intake in an hour, bilingually and collaboratively! Helen goes above and beyond to ensure a thorough intake and overall client satisfaction. She has worked tirelessly not only to learn the open access process but to improve it as well! Helen is an advocate for clients and her co-workers. She inspires clients to pursue their goals and she inspires me too. Helen brings her Best Ever every single day. She is willing to go the extra mile and has been an incredible addition to the team!

JULY 2018 AUGUST 2018 SEPTEMBER 2018

OCTOBER 2018 NOVEMBER 2018 DECEMBER 2018

2017 Best Ever Employee of the Month

MARCH 2017 APRIL 2017 MAY 2017

Jenna Matthews Shelley Green Matthew Mlynarczyk Emergency Services Miami Telluride/Norwood

A client that was on a cert could not be reached and there was no information on where she was currently living. The Gunnison Police Department located her living in her car and brought her into the Gunnison Clinic, which was not expected. Because of this, the clinic did not have the medication that was needed for this client. Jenna was the ES Clinician on that day and offered to get the medicine and drive to the Gunnison Clinic, which she did immediately.

Shelley went above and beyond helping me with a Spanish speaking family who was worried about their son. She not only contacted the client, they also met with them in person during their ES time, gave up their lunch to support them and truly helped them feel more at ease about his situation. I was both able to talk with the family and the son via telephone during this time and hopefully waylaid his parents' fears. Thanks Shelley for always willing to step in when needed without batting an eye!

Matt has stepped up and has been covering School Based/Outpatient and SUD services in San Miguel County. He has a large caseload and has approached this challenge with a wonderful attitude and positive outlook. Matt is learning and takes feedback like a champion. He is a great employee with excellent counseling skills. Matt is pleasant to work with and has built a great relationship with community partners. He brings his Best Ever and strives to Provide excellent services and is an awesome team player. Matt is client centered and is risk taker. He has taken on a lot and handles challenges with a smile.

JUNE 2017 JULY 2017 AUGUST 2017

Michelle Thomasini Rawlie Busch Scott Hawkins Admin San Miguel

Michelle is a rock star and is an asset to our company. She is a go-getter and the first one to drop everything she is doing and offer help with a smile. She never has a “it’s not my job” attitude. One thing I love about Michelle is that she has a big heart. When you are having a bad day, or need a little pick me, up she finds a time when you are not at your desk to place a little note of encouragement to brighten your day. You get back to your desk and there it is! Just a simple little note to put a smile on your face to help you make it through the rest of the day. Thank you, Michelle, for being so thoughtful and all you do. I appreciate you so much and so glad you are on our CMH team!

Rowlie went above and beyond in client care by staying in contact with a client in crisis over the weekend. The client could not get to the ER due to weather. Rowlie made sure the client was safe and stable until they could get to the ER. Thank you, Rowlie, for working hard to ensure our clients receive the best care possible and for your efforts above and beyond. Congratulations!

We would like to nominate Scott Hawkins for August’s Best Ever. The Miami expansion looks great. He has spent so much time and effort getting that project complete. Thank you Scott for all you do!

SEPTEMBER 2017 OCTOBER 2017

Susan Brown Rose Miola Admin Naturita and Basin Clinic

Billing has been backed up in certain areas and Susan eagerly offered to help when it seemed appropriate to do so. She has experience in the finance department because she used to work there and she knows how the systems work. When a staff member had an unexpected death in the family, Susan was asked if Finance could take her up on her offer to help, and she willingly said yes and did it by the end of the week. This is very much appreciated! Susan has a great attitude and is a pleasure to work with. Thank you Susan for being so thoughtful and for all you do! 25 years at the Center and still going strong!!!

Rose has developed a Pain Management program at the Basin Clinic that the clinic will be implementing for all patients that utilize opioids for pain. She has gone above and beyond in her willingness to adjust her schedule to accommodate the needs of our clients in Naturita, specifically the many children in the community who need services. Rose has become a vital part of our team in the short time she has been with the Center. We are thankful for her!!!

NOVEMBER 2017

Shakira Berg, Whitney Silva, Crystal Hoeland, & Dr. Burson Miami

Several members of the Miami Office Team are to be commended for their out of the box thinking in working with a young client to get him the treatment needed. Great teamwork! Letter below: “What a great experience I had with my son at CMH this fall. Everyone I have interacted with so far, from the first call to make an appointment to now, has been unbelievable. Every aspect of our situation has been handled with the utmost thoughtfulness and understanding. My son has a history of generalized anxiety disorder, which in the last 8 months had reached a point that he was not able to attend school and had made him unwilling to go anywhere that caused anxiety. This was especially true of medical offices. My heart sank when I first called CMH and your typical intake process was explained. I had a son who had had a panic attack in the car just from driving by CMH and talking about where we would eventually be going, so I knew exactly what would happen if we came into the open intake session. I explained my concerns to the woman who had answered the phone at CMH. To my surprise, she was empathetic and let me know she would check and see what could be done. I cannot recall her name, but she called me back and let me know that Whitney, I believe that was her name, would meet with us individually. Not only that an accommodation we needed, but Whitney also came out to our car to meet him when he had a panic attack in the parking lot and was unable to get out for our intake appointment. She made her best effort to engage my son and was not flustered nor frustrated by his behavior. Never once during this or any other interaction with you staff did I ever feel less than or judged. She offered multiple ways to continue if he was unable to get out of the car. Turns out I ended up coming back solo to complete the intake. Shakira then followed up with us to plan next steps to be able to get my son to his appt with Dr. Bursen. Shakira went above and beyond! She offered to do exactly what was needed in my son's situation. She set up two times to meet her in the early evening at CMH so that my son could gradually get comfortable with coming for his appointment. She offered to bring her dog - which worked so well. She let us come in the side entrance and showed us the route we would take and the shared with my son what to expect during the appointment. This was crucial for him attending his appointment and it worked! On the day of the appointment, Shakira met us with her puppy. My son got out with no difficulty and was comfortable walking in for his appointment via the side door. He got to play with the puppy during the appointment, which helped immensely. Although he wasn't comfortable enough to answer a lot of the Dr.'s questions, he did stay for about 20 minutes before going to hang out with the puppy in Shakira's room. That was a HUGE success that would NEVER have happened if not for the understanding, mutual problem-solving, and willingness to work outside the box exhibited by CMH staff from the very start of the process. I am happy to say that with a med adjustment from Dr. Bursen that my son's anxiety has decreased noticeably. We are both looking forward to his follow up with Dr. Bursen tomorrow! Very impressed with CMH. Please be sure to explain how this employee has gone above and beyond for the Center.”

Second correspondence – “She was very accommodating again today with my son's follow up appointment. We had not pre-planned the use of the side entrance for this visit but upon arriving at CMH my son asked if we could use that route again. I called Shakira from the parking lot and asked if that was possible and she came out within a few minutes and let us in. We ended up waiting in her office for about a half an hour while Dr. Bursen finished with another client, which was fine, it happens. Shakira checked in with us after about 15 minutes to let us know he was close to being done. Dr. Bursen's calm, thoughtful manner and splash of light-hearted humor has been a good fit for us. He listens and considers my opinions and thoughts during our visits while still keeping the work at hand very client-centered and driven, which is appropriate as my son is almost 12. On a work note, I am glad to have had my own experiences now with CMH. I have encountered a number of parents in my work that have had a reluctance to seek out professional help (from any agency) for their children's mental health issues. Some have never sought help for fear of being judged, others have sought out help only to find that they didn't feel listened to or didn't feel what may be suggested would work and then stopped taking their child to services. I can now genuinely speak of the high quality of CMH's intake and assessment portion of services for kids. If there is any way I can be of assistance in expanding our community's knowledge of and comfort with seeking out mental health services for children, please let me know. I would love to be involved.”

DECEMBER 2017

Kimberly Behounek Gunnison

Kimberly has done a fantastic job at keeping the EST team on task for our January 1st deadline. She has really helped challenge us to prioritize certain deliverables in order for the entire team to be successful.