Reedsburg Area Medical Center Health

I received feedback from ER physician Dr. Lyback regarding the following experience:

"Awhile ago I had the BEST experience with Christine Trautman. I had never met her in person before – she had a patient in her office that was going through a very difficult situation. Dr. Trautman accompanied the patient as she received additional care in the emergency room, stayed with her and helped her so incredibly much. She was overall just an incredibly exceptional asset for this patient and we were all very thankful. Very impressed by Dr. Trautman!"

Nominated by Melissa Southworth, Chief Nursing Officer
October, 2022

"Lori spent a large part of her day pursuing every possibility in order to get a patient some medications that the patient was not able to afford. Lori went beyond what was expected and made numerous phone calls to other departments to see what could be done. In the end, Lori made sure these medications were paid for and the patient was able to get started on these very needed medications. Thanks Lori for not stopping when it seemed as if all possibilities were exhausted. It is because of you that this patient got their medications in a timely manner."

Nominated by Tiaha McGettigan, Pharmacy
September, 2022

“On April 2, 2022, we called you in on your day off to help us with a critical patient we had in the ICU. You gladly came in even though it was taking you away from your family time. You started a central line, an arterial line and a chest tube on this critical patient. Then after all of that, you stayed until Med Flight arrived to transport this patient. This is just one moment in time that you have done such a selfless act. You definitely are selfless and put the patients first. For this reason, you are going beyond the expected!”

Nominated by Beth Nofsinger, Med/Surg
April, 2022

“A patient/visitor stopped into the Administration office and was overheard telling another team member that she was going to be driving a friend to an appointment in Madison later
in the week, but didn’t think that there was enough gas in the car to get the patient to the
appointment and worried about running out of gas on the drive to/from Madison. The person also indicated that the appointment was scheduled for the day before payday, so they were
not going to have a paycheck in time to put gas in their vehicle. Rachel personally gave this
person enough cash so that they could put gas in their car to drive the patient to and from their appointment in Madison. I know that the patient/visitor was so appreciative and thankful for Rachel’s generosity and compassion!”

Nominated by Ryan Bohen
April, 2022

“I am nominating Dr. Deanna Benish for Going Beyond the Expected for her quick and selfless actions at the Girls Sectional Basketball game in Baraboo on March 3. A student from the opposing team’s student section collapsed in the front row during the game. Before most of the fans even knew that something happened Dr. Benish was jumping down the very packed bleachers and ran across the court to assist in the care of this student. She left the gym with the student and returned later to watch the remainder of her daughter’s basketball game. I was impressed by how swiftly she responded to the care of this student. It shows that even beyond RAMC walls, our staff and providers are willing to assist in the care of others when their expertise is needed without even thinking twice.”

Nominated by Mandy Retzlaff
March, 2022

“Christmas Eve was an extremely difficult day on MCC. There were several critical patients and we needed to pull the house supervisor to the ICU. I was able to shift into the house supervisor role, but was unable to leave to get to the grocery store before it closed. This meant that I would not have ingredients for Christmas dinner. Ryan realized this and went to the grocery store to purchase everything that I needed so that I could still cook a Christmas meal for my family. Ryan was selfless with her time and not only helped to provide support to the MCC unit, but ensure that my family Christmas was saved.”

Nominated by Teresa Field, Administration
December, 2021

“Once again, Kaylyn has outdone herself. We had a critical patient who needed to be transferred to UW by 8:00 AM or they would have to give the bed away. The patient needed to stay in the prone position to remain stable, making transport more difficult, especially via ambulance. Due to the weather overnight, Med Flight was not flying. Kaylyn worked after her shift to call every couple of hours for weather updates to see if the patient could get either Med Flight or First Flight air transport. She had even offered to ride in an ambulance with the patient if no other option became available. Despite having already worked 12 hours and having to be back for another 12 hours the next day, Kaylyn stayed up through the night to make sure she was doing everything possible to care for our patient. Eventually, Med Flight was able to fly long enough to get the patient to Portage where he then made the rest of the trip to UW via ambulance.”

Nominated by Courtney Rudsill, Pharmacy
January, 2022

“Kaylyn was staffing Christmas Eve when we had to intubate a patient and were unable to transfer her anywhere. The patient was in critical condition and declining. Family was trying to get in to see her while they could. Kaylyn stayed after her shift and spent the night in Reedsburg to make sure she was available to care for the patient and her family. Holiday or not, she never seems to hesitate to make sacrifices for our patients and community. We are truly lucky to have such a selfless caring provider.”

Nominated by Courtney Rudsill, Pharmacy
December, 2021

“Angela purchased reading glasses and an electric razor for a patient in need. She wrapped it and it was given to the patient Christmas day.

Mandy Moudry went the extra mile to help a patient who hadn’t had her hair washed in quite some time. She washed and braided it for her and the patient was so grateful!

Angela and Mandy truly go above and beyond for patients, which is the mission of RAMC. Thank you, you are an inspiration!”

Nominated by Med/Surg Department Staff
January, 2022

“John, from Medical Imaging, was helping staff MCC when they were short handed. There was a patient who had an MRI ordered and since he had time, John decided to take her to complete the procedure overnight. The patient’s imaging came back positive and as a result, we were able to intervene sooner. So, thank you for both helping staff MCC and for taking the initiative to get an MRI for our patient even though you weren’t working in your own department at the time.”

Nominated by Courtney Rudisill, Inpatient Pharmacy
December, 2021

"Missy has very generously offered to step away from her family Christmas gathering on Christmas Eve to come in and help distribute meals to staff who are working at RAMC in the evening. The House Supervisors have always been so wonderful about helping distribute holiday meals, but with the increased patient census, Missy identified that the House Supervisor working on 12/24 in the evening will likely be busy helping on the floor and offered to come in and help. The fact that Missy is taking time away from her own Christmas gathering to help distribute meals is absolutely incredible!"

Nominated by Ryan Bohen
December, 2021

“I am nominating Hannet Ambord for coordinating transferring a script for a patient after hours, filling it in Community Pharmacy, and delivering the meds to the patient’s bedside so the patient could go home with their meds. The patient’s spouse was working and unable to get to the pharmacy before they closed. The prescription was for pain medications so it was important for the patient to have them to take home.”

Nominated by Melissa Southworth
December, 2021

"I am nominating Dr. Ruzga because he offered to help a patient whose surgery was going to be cancelled due to unexpected provider absence. He met with the patient, discussed surgery, completed consent, and performed the patient's surgery on short notice - and did so with a happy, positive 'can-do' attitude. Thank you!"

Nominated by Melissa Southworth
December, 2021

"I would like to nominate Teresa Zolcynski, RN from the ER for going beyond the expected today.  The ER received a phone call from our Pharmacist at Viking.  She was dealing with a Spanish speaking man who had recently been seen in the ER and went there to pick up a prescription.  Teresa fielded this call and offered to speak directly to the patient as the Pharmacy could not understand exactly what he was wanting from them, and had become agitated.  Teresa has been learning Spanish on her own time recently and was able to speak to him in Spanish and gained some additional information as well as helped to calm him.  When she realized she still did not understand the entire scenario because of the language barrier, she put him on hold and obtained use of the Marti interpreter system.  Using the interpreter to assist with the 3-way call, she was able to determine that the patient was confused about the paperwork he had.  She kindly explained what she could to the patient and also to Viking Pharmacy.

"I am so proud to work with someone like Teresa.  She works hard to better herself, not because she is required for her job, but because she just wants to.  We work with a large population of Spanish speakers in the ED and it makes a world of difference for the patients and staff when the language barrier is decreased.  Thank you to Teresa for the exceptional efforts you went to to assist this patient as well as the Pharmacy.  Great job!"

Nominated by Bretta Oakes
December, 2021

"We would like to nominate Dave Woodard for assisting the pharmacy with transporting COVID-19 vaccines from Portage to Reedsburg. Dave jumped at the opportunity when asked. It is a good example of how Dave often looks for ways to help others and gives back to RAMC."

Nominated by Cindy Dries, Director of IT and Danielle Liegel, RAMC Pharmacist

Jaime was working at the high school to schedule physicals. The way we used to connect to our system from the school was no longer working. Jaime used her own personal cell phone hotspot to allow her to connect securely and do the scheduling. We would have not been able to continue without her quick thinking, and ability to use her own hotspot.

Nominated by Dave Woodard, IT
August, 2021

"I had a medically and emotionally complex breastfeeding journey for the first 6 weeks postpartum (so far). Jan came in on her day off to assess myself and my daughter while we were still in the hospital. In addition, Jan was available to me by text, phone call and frequent lactation appointments in these early weeks. Jan literally put in hours of her own time to make sure I was successful. When each new medical issue arose Jan was quick to help me get through with her extensive knowledge and vast resources. If Jan was unsure of something she found evidence based resources for the situation.  In addition, Jan was great about coordinating with my doctor which was so helpful when you're sleep deprived and your memory is non existent!  My situation is just one example of all the times Jan goes above and beyond for our patients. I know our community of breastfeeding mothers would be so lost without her. She is such an essential resource to our community.  I know I would not have made it this far without her and I work in the birth center and have breastfeeding knowledge. Thank you, thank you, thank you Jan for all you do!!! You are such a gift!"

Many reason’s Johnny is being nominated – he’s there whenever you need help. When we move equipment to and from storage he brings his own trailers in so we don’t have to lift things up on the back of pickups. He has the shop equipment at home to make many things, storage racks, COVID sign posts, etc. Many of the truck repairs, shocks, brakes, tires, he’s rebuilt our snowplows and snow blowers just to name a few. Thank you Johnny!

Nominated by RAMC Maintenance Crew
April, 2021

"Russ came in and spent a cold February Sunday night, into Monday, watching the air handling units due to the extremely cold temperatures. The maintenance crew feel Russ went above and beyond spending the night here making sure that the bitter cold temperatures did not shut down the hospital’s heating system. Thank you Russ!"

Nominated by RAMC Maintenance Crew
February, 2021

"I recognize Kaylyn Kenkel for “Going Beyond the Expected.” It was a busy Christmas Day when Kaylyn had a patient on comfort measures. This patient wanted to hear Christmas mass and get a straight razor shave, as before this gentleman had become sick he was known for always having a straight razor shave. The family brought in his razors for the staff to shave him. Kaylyn took out his razors and a realized they had become dull. When she had a free moment on this busy day, she took it upon herself to leave the hospital, go to Walgreens and purchase a straight razor. Then she actually shaved this gentleman herself, as she knew the nursing staff was also very busy. 

"Kaylyn, your generosity and caring soul not only touched this gentleman’s heart, but also his family, as well as the nursing staff. I believe this is definitely Going Beyond the Expected. It is just one example of your caring and thoughtfulness that we have witnessed. Thank you so much!"

Nominated by Beth Nofsinger, House Supervisor
December, 2020

“We have a patient going home today (1/23/20) with new medications. His wife is coming to pick him up but she also has COVID and is not feeling well. He expressed concerns about both of them being ill and having to go to Viking Pharmacy to pick up his meds. Ashley drove to the pharmacy, picked up the patient’s meds and brought them here so he could have them before heading home from the hospital. Ashley didn’t hesitate to step in and help make sure our patient was taken care of.”

Nominated by Courtney Rudisill, RAMC Inpatient Pharmacist
January, 2021

“So Many times this winter I have looked out my window to see Melissa Bulin shoveling the sidewalk in the morning. It is such of a thoughtful thing for her to do!”

Nominated by Cindy Tourdot
January, 2021

We nominate Lisa Padberg because of her generosity in making and donating her time and material to make bonnets for everyone in our department. We are no longer able to get as many of our regular bonnets as needed due to the supply shortage due to COVID-19. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness and dedication to RAMC!

Nominated by the Nutrition and Culinary department
February, 2021
 

“On May 22, 2023 we had a distraught patient come into the Specialty Center for an appointment but she also needed some medical records. When Kim approached the patient to get specifics on what exactly itwas the patient was looking for the patient was very upset, emotional, and crying. She was in need of “ALL” of her records from September to present. Once Kim found out exactly what the patient needed she immediately stopped everything else that she was doing to work on gathering and printing this patients records, 1800 pages of them. Kim knew this would take time so rather than having the patient come back another day, because the patient was already so upset, Kim asked the patient if she had an errand or two to run in town so Kim would have time to print everything. The patient lived in another town so this was the ideal suggestion to save the patient time and gas money. When the patient arrived back at RAMC to pick up her records Kim had them all printed and in a box ready for the patient and by the end of that encounter Kim stated she had the patient laughing and feeling much better about her situation. Kim went well beyond her call of duty not only gathering and printing the records immediately for the patient but also for handling the patient and her feelings with such care that the patient went from crying to laughing during Kim’s encounters with her. Thank you Kim for all you do! You are truly an AMAZING asset to RAMC!”

Nominated by: Brandi Fergi, HIM
May 23, 2023

Nominated by: Pam Dregney, Birth Center

August 7, 2023

“I would like to nominate Martha for going beyond during a recent interpretation need. Birth Center nurse, Kelly Koenig, emailed Pam Dregney and Erin James to let them know about a situation they had overnight. A Spanish-only speaking patient arrived in the Birth Center from the Emergency Department. The patient was in a lot of distress due to pain and other traumatic circumstances prior to arrival. Neither
Marrti interpreters were working. While the house supervisor was attempting to trouble shoot Martii, she suggested a call to Martha to see if she would be available. At 11pm Martha not only answered her phone immediately but also quickly replied that she could come in to help. Anita Lindholm, working in Med Surg, was able to get the Marrti working and we were thankfully able to call off Martha before she got here. Martha was very willing to go well out of her way to help this patient and our unit!”