April 6, 2009
Written by: Sherry Kapolka
Marketing/Communications Specialist
Southeastern Med
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Arnold Nominated for Health Care Worker of the Year Award
Southeastern Med proudly announces Leisa Arnold, MHA, RT (R) (M) [Master’s of Healthcare Administration, Radiologic Technology – Radiography/Mammography] as nominee for the Ohio Hospital Association’s (OHA) 2009 Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award.
Arnold, along with other nominees from across Ohio, will be honored and celebrated during a recognition dinner that will take place on June 15th in Columbus, Ohio. At that dinner, one ultimate recipient will be selected as the 2009 Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year in addition to four finalists.
Arnold has devoted nearly 30 years of service to Southeastern Med’s Diagnostic Imaging Department where she started her career as a radiology student from Zane State College in 1980. She graduated Cum Laude with her Bachelor’s of Science Degree in 1987 from Salem College in West Virginia, and most recently, she earned her Master’s in Health Administration in January 2009 from The University of St. Francis and maintained a 4.0 grade point average.
At Southeastern Med, Arnold is a registered radiologic technologist, worked as an interventional technologist, became certified as a mammography technologist in 1994, was appointed as continuing education coordinator for the Diagnostic Imagining Department also in 1994, and has been serving as a clinical preceptor guiding, supervising, and evaluating radiology students from Zane State College since 1995.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is making a difference in people’s lives. For example, seeing a student graduate, start a career in the radiology field, and being successful with that career and having those students return and thank me makes all that I do very worthwhile,” Arnold reflects. “I am grateful for their acknowledgement, and it only encourages me to continue on and touch others’ lives.”
While she is involved in many committees at the medical center, her passion for radiology and serving others extends beyond Southeastern Med’s walls. Since 2000, Arnold has served as a board member and presently holds the office of board secretary for the Thompkins Child and Adolescent Center, which helps troubled youngsters. For the past two years, she has been an active member of the Guernsey Country Suicide Coalition.
Arnold is driven to improve the healthcare safety of imaging patients and is a leader among her colleagues and peers. She is actively involved in the Ohio Society of Radiologic Technologists (OSRT) where she has been a board member since 2001, was recording secretary in 2003, and serves as the editor of two of the organization’s newsletters since 2005. In 2008, she was inducted as and continues to serve as the President of OSRT. When her time as president ends in 2009, she will then assume the position as Chairman of the OSRT Board.
To prepare for her advanced service role, Arnold attended the American Society of Radiologic Technologists’ (ASRT) leadership training in New Mexico in 2008. She returned to New Mexico later in the year as a representative for the state of Ohio’s technologists at the national conference where she voted on issues that would affect all working professionals.
“I became involved with the OSRT initially to fulfill an obligation to my fellow technologists, and now I can’t imagine not being involved. It was a humbling experience to represent technologists and vote on issues at the national conference, and I was grateful to have been allowed to vote on Ohio’s behalf,” Arnold shares.
Arnold’s affiliation with the OSRT and ASRT enables her to pursue being an advocate. She has attended the “RT in DC” event in Washington, DC for three consecutive years. Technologists from across the nation attend this event to lobby for a the CARE Bill, which will provide healthcare patients with the assurance the person performing their imaging exam is qualified across the country and held to the same standards as other technologists in other states nationwide. In an effort to pass this bill, Arnold has met with Ohio legislatures, including Representatives Zac Space and Charlie Wilson, who both signed onto the bill after speaking with her.
“This was one of my greatest accomplishments professionally. I am relentless in seeing this bill pass,” states Arnold.
