February Newsletter

Birthdays and Anniversaries!

New to the UOG Crew!

employee photoMarissa ColburnFront Desk Coordinator – Valdosta
employee photoY’Kivia Byrd Medical Assistant – Warner Robins
employee photoKristy WheelerFront Desk Coordinator – Main
employee photoCallie FaulkFront Desk Coordinator – Albany
employee photoCris WilsonMammogram Tech – Main
employee photoSarah BentonMedical Assistant- TWC
employee photoAntoinette ColemanInsurance Call Center Representative – Main
employee photoTresonya CogdellMedical Assistant -TWC
employee photoJessica FussellMammogram Tech – Main
employee photoRylea TraylorInsurance Call Center Rep – Main
employee photoSubricca Luster, NPNurse Practitioner – Albany/Tifton Float

Congratulations Corner!

Congratulations to our very own Dr. Kaylar Howard on winning the 2023 Champions of Hope Award from Ruth’s Cottage & The Patticake House! This award is the highest honor one can receive from this incredible organization! Dr. Kaylar was not able to attend the award ceremony, so her trophy was proudly accepted by her son, Greer Howard and our CEO, Sherri Simmons! Congratulations, Dr. Kaylar! Your beautiful, caring heart, generous contributions and unwavering support for this organization and many other organizations in Tift and surrounding counties never go unnoticed!

Congratulations to Laura Stephens’ and her son, Alton! We know that Laura is one PROUD Momma! Not only is Alton, graduating from the University of Tennessee, he’s newly engaged (as of February 24th) to his long time girlfriend, Morgan!

Congratulations to Kelly Smith’s daughter, Emerson Chastain! Emerson is the 2024 Miss Lee County Middle School. Kelly said that Emerson also won People’s Choice and The Emma Phillips Miss Congeniality Award! The Howard Center was a proud sponsor of Emerson’s pageant and we wish her well during her reign and success in her future competitions!

Congratulations to our Front Desk Coordinator, Hannah Dorsey! Hannah was chosen to go on a mission trip to Ichmul, Mexico this June! What an exciting opportunity and such a wonderful cause! We can’t wait to see pictures and hear all about your trip!

Shout Outs!!

The Shout Out Section is new to the UOG Newsletter! This gives our employees a chance to shout each other out as well as recognize anyone who has been shouted out by a patient (not in the patient surveys)

Shout Out to Rhonda Ewing, our Covington Marketer! Rhonda received this shout out below! Scott took the time to reach out to Dr. Kaylar and brag on Rhonda and the incredible job that she is doing! Way to go, Rhonda!

Shout out to Niki Marshall! Your Covington coworkers love and appreciate you!

Black History Month!

During the month of February, we celebrated Black History Month here at UOG!

We are beyond PROUD to have these outstanding Physicians, Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Midwives of color in our UOG Family not just during Black History Month, but every day of every month of the year!

These incredible individuals help make us who we are as a practice! These providers give their all for our patients and we could never thank them enough!

Please join us in recognizing and thanking these hard working and dedicated professionals:

Dr. Nicole Sparks

Dr. Donald Menya

Dr. Dwight Hooper

Kyra Robinson-Prince, CNM

Amber Guyton, CNM

Deidra Printup, FNP-C

Kara Chestnut, WHNP-BC

Khloe Barlow, DNP, FNP-BC

*Not pictured- Subricca Luster, NP*

HooHoo Sister’s Night Out!

We LOVE our Employees and what better way to show y’all that we appreciate you guys and all that you do than to have a Valentine’s Day theme for our first HooHoo Sister’s Night of 2024!

We had BALL! We ate pizza and sweet treats, we played games, we danced (and let us tell you, for those who weren’t there, our employees have some moves!) and we laughed until our sides hurt!

The vibes were great, but the people in attendance were greater! Thank you so much to everyone who was able to make it! We love being able to celebrate each and every one of you and all that you do for us and our patients daily!

Save the Date!

Save the Date! Ms. Debbie Hill from TWC and her family are hosting Run for TTP 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run/Walk on Saturday, April 27, 2024 here in Tifton at Northest Middle School!

For more information, please contact Ms. Debbie at debbie.hill@howardcenter.com

Monthly Recipe!

Stuffed Taco Bell pepper

image.png

Ingredients

  • PAM® Avocado Oil Cooking Spray Pump
  • 4 small bell peppers
  • 1 pound ground beef (80% lean)
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 pouch (8 oz each) Frontera® Ground Beef Taco Skillet Sauce
  • 2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided
  • 2/3 cup canned black beans, drained, rinsed
  • 2 large avocados, pitted, peeled
  • 1 pouch (4.5 oz each) Frontera® Original Guacamole Mix
  • 2 cups shredded lettuce
  • 1 small tomato, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, optional

Employee Excellence Award Winners and Our Shining Star!

OB Department: Laura RentzThank you for all your hard work and dedication. Laura have been my back bone in OB these past couple months. She has shown so much approvement in a lot of different aspects this month. She has been a great example of what leadership should be. Thank you for your love for our patients and most importantly keeping OB first.
Front Desk: Hannah DorseyHannah puts the TEAM in TEAM! She will help wherever and however she is able to. She helps all our employees everyday and she doesn’t even see how much she is helping. She has had many roles in our office from the time that she first started with us. She has grown so much with our company. She has started making notes for other employees that will help them in the future. If she sees an issue she always has a solution. She is an asset to our office! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO HANNAH!
Nursing: Carolina Taylor Carolina is our Valdosta nurse who is always willing to go the extra mile, she is currently traveling to Tifton to help, due to us being short staffed. She is an outstanding employee and makes a positive impact with her co-workers and patients. We are so lucky to have you Carolina!
WCAS: Crystal HarlanOur WCAS Employee of the Month is Crystal! We have received so many survey responses with her name just praising how well she takes care of her patients. She truly makes their surgery experience more comfortable and calms their nerves.
Provider: Rose Smith, NP Rose Smith is our NP at our Douglas Office. She’s has awesome reviews and is greatly loved by all her patients! She’s well known in her community and has a passion for Childhood Cancer . She is very knowledgeable in hormonal medicine and also does pellets . Thank you, Rose!
Surgery Coordinator: Emily ReddingEmily is ALWAYS ready and willing to jump in and help wherever needed. She is our Hospital surgery coordinator along with covering for WCAS surgery coordinator if they are ever out. She has covered the front desk so others can have time off this month and even rescheduled her own time off to make it happen. She is definitely an asset for our UOG family.
Marketing: Jessica PowerJessica, your hard work and unwavering commitment to Marketing is exceptional. Your positive attitude and work ethic are second to none. You have the highest completion rate. You are always helping others on the marketing team along with whatever office you are in. You had two shoutouts for being so helpful and informative by patients. We are so thankful you are on our team.
TWC: Brandy CastanonBrandy Castanon Brandy is our front desk check in for TWC and she does an amazing job at handling patient issues, updating patients information , and handling and provider questions all at the same time. She makes multi tasking look easy. Our patients love her and tell me how sweet she was to them when they come in for their appointments. Thank you Brandy for all the you do!
Insurance: Kelsi BlackKelsi deserves to be the Insurance Department’s employee of the month for February! She goes the extra mile to help our patients resolve billing issues. Kelsi exhaust all resources available in order to help patient’s settle their claims . She works swiftly but takes the time to notate account in detail. We are happy to have Kelsi back as part of our Insurance team.
Howard Diet: Kelly SmithThe Howard Diet employee of the month for February is Kelly Smith. Kelly is always on top of everything and making sure things are flowing smoothly in the Diet Center over there at our Albany/Leesburg office! On top of juggling multiple tasks, she never hesitates to call me and ask if she isn’t sure of something and she will always let me know when something isn’t right so we can get it fixed together! I appreciate everything you do Kelly and thank you for helping taking care of our patients, you definitely deserve this!
Manager: Jessica WhitleyFebruary has been a complicated month for both of our WCAS locations. Jessica handled the stressful situations professionally and figured out how to make the best out of each challenge. She has truly grown in her leadership role as the OR supervisor and has built a great relationship with her team. Her team is extremely supportive of her and are always willing to work extra hours to help her our. That is a huge testimony to her leadership skills! We are grateful for her dedication to our company!
Photo of shining star winner

Katelyn Harty
Ultrasound Tech
$250.00 and a Trophy!!

Katelyn goes above and beyond to help her patients and coworkers in Covington. She always, without hesitation or even asking, jumps in and helps work up patients. She is very aware of how long patients are in waiting rooms and continuously checks on them. She not only helps our MA’s by working up patients but also prints out surgery reports for post op appointments and begins the progress note on the next patient waiting to be worked up to help get the patient in and out of the office faster. She keeps an eye out on the snacks, coffee bar and refrigerator making sure they are stocked at all times. She checks the rooms ensuring they are stocked with everything needed. We are so happy to have you a part of our team Katelyn. Thanks for all your hard work!