BY: Dena Kirk
VISIONS CHAIR
We wrapped up another great NAOHP conference in Charleston, South Carolina with over 175 in attendance. The conference provided a variety of topics including customer services initiatives, financial analysis, sales/marketing, personal leadership, and best practices within the field.
The feedback received during the networking opportunities, training sessions, and workshops was all positive. There were two awards presented this year. The NAOHP Founders Award and the Wanda Ellithorpe-Fletcher BSN, COHN-S Occupational Health Nurse Leadership Award.
NAOHP FOUNDERS AWARD
The NAOHP Founders Award is designed to recognize an Occupational Health Professional’s contribution to the field of occupational health. Nominees must be current members in good standing with NAOHP and show competence within the field. The recipient of this year’s Founders Award was awarded to Richard (Rick) Schneider. Rick has been fully committed to NAOHP, as he served on the board for the first time in 2007 and then came back for a second stint in 2014. He has been active in the weekly town hall meetings and has been a regular conference attendee.
Rick has a strong clinical background with a BS in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1977, followed by a second BS degree in their Physician Assistant program in 1980. He served as assistant medical director on the Menomonee Indian Reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin, and later relocated to Milwaukee to serve as Director of Occupational Medicine for Medical Associates. In 1996, Rick pursued a third bachelor’s degree in Industrial Hygiene at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside and in 1998 he received his MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
In 2003, Rick took a turn on the other side of occupational health, taking a position as a licensed commercial insurance account executive and returning back to medicine in 2005, where he managed multiple specialty practices for OSF Healthcare. He returned to occupational health in 2013 working for Froedtert Health to support the growth and development of a comprehensive occupational health program, which grew to include 6 full-service occupational medical clinics with 9 providers and over 350 client companies.
Rick retired from his position at Froedtert in the fall of 2020 to spend more time with his wife, Kathleen, their three children, and 6 grandchildren. A devoted family man, his love for them is evident to all who know him.
He is truly a man whose career has been fully dedicated to improving the lives of workers, serving clients with excellence, and acting as a role model for the future leaders of this specialty.
WANDA ELLITHORPE-FLETCHER BSN, COHN-S OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH NURSE LEADERSHIP AWARD
Wanda Ellithorpe-Fletcher has been an innovator and leader in the field of occupational health for three decades. She was an entrepreneur, mentor, and role model who proved that nurses have leadership skills and business acumen to fill C-suite positions beyond chief nursing officers in the healthcare industry. This award was established by SafeWorks Illinois and NorthBay Medical Center to honor Wanda’s passion and drive to grow the occupational health industry as an occupational health nurse manager.
Her collaborative leadership style has paved the way for those who have come after her to provide excellent leadership and innovative care. After her death in 2019, her family created this award to recognize an occupational health nurse who provides exemplary leadership with an emphasis on the administration of the occupational health program and its associated roles as Clinician, Manager, Educator, Consultant, and Case Manager.
The recipient for this year’s Wanda Ellithorpe-Fletcher, BSN, COHN-S Occupational Health Nurse Leadership Award was awarded to Mindy Guillory, BSN, RN, COHN-S, CAOHC, CM. Mindy’s background goes beyond occupational health nursing. Mindy started her nursing career in the U.S. Navy, where she served as a Navy nurse.
Following her service, she returned home to start a family and then started to build a practice serving the occupational needs of employers from Massachusetts to the Carolinas. Mindy has served as a CAOHC course instructor, and she was also the former treasurer of her PA Chapter of Occupational Health Nurses. Mindy is an ambassador for occupational health nursing. Her peers recognize that Mindy has the ability to deliver her subject matter expertise to an employer, employee, or layperson which is a win-win for the patient and the business. Mindy “sees the intrinsic value in every person and encourages them to chase their potential,” which is a value every nurse should hold. Congratulations Mindy!
Certified Occupational Health Practice Management (COHPM) Congratulations:
- TaHari Harris-Scotland Health
- Leslie Johnson-Bennett-Scotland Health
- Nathan Hall-Springfield Clinic
- Shauna Bolyard-Froedtert Health
- Lori Roozen-Froedtert Health
- Kristyn Richner-Cox Medical Group
- Bridget O’Hara-Cox Medical Group
- Breanna Bassett-Macon Occupational Medicine
- Alanna Earl-NAOHP
We wrapped up the conference with our certification workshop, which was held on Wednesday, September 21st. There were several who completed the necessary coursework, passing a certification examination for “Certified Occupational Health Practice Management” (COHPM). Congratulations to those who are now certified:
Mark your calendars for our 2023 Conference, which will be held October 8th – 11th in Denver, Colorado.
