ONE hundred and sixteen (116) employees of St. Jude Hospital were awarded for their outstanding performances during the first quarter of the year, at a presentation ceremony held last Friday.
The workers were awarded in the following categories: perfect attendance, professionalism, superior performance, customer responsiveness, safety and care, integrity, quality and productivity.
In addition to certificates, the awardees in the ‘perfect attendance’ category each received a monetary award.
The award for the “Employee of the Quarter” went to Kervin St. Romain of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department.
In his remarks, Andrew Piltie, Human Resource Manager of the health institution, lamented that sick leave and absenteeism is a major problem at the hospital.
“Last year’s figures show that total absenteeism for both certified and non-certified sick leave was over 4,500 working days, with an estimated cost of over one million dollars,” Piltie said.
He said by recognizing the staff for their hard work, they are going in the right direction.
Officer in Charge, Dr. Denis Laurencin, said St. Jude Hospital is not the physical building, but a group of people who make the place what it is.
“We have done quite a bit here since the fire. We have transformed the place into a hospital — and although not the ideal, we are working with it…” Dr. Laurencin said.
He added: “Hopefully we will get our building at some point. Hopefully soon…”
Dr. Laurencin called on the staff to continue working hard to improve the services the hospital offers.
“We will continue working hard to make the institution one of the best on the island,” he said.