Press release from Haywood Regional Medical Center:
Haywood Regional Medical Center recently announced that Johanna Dewees, RN, has been recognized as the hospital’s 2019 Mercy Award winner. The Mercy Award recognizes one employee from each of LifePoint Health’s hospitals who profoundly touches the lives of others and best represents the spirit and values on which the company was founded.
The Mercy Award is an annual recognition program established in 2001 to honor the life and contributions of Scott Mercy, LifePoint’s founding chairman and chief executive officer. The award is the highest honor a LifePoint employee can receive.
“At Haywood Regional, we share LifePoint’s commitment to Making Communities Healthier, and we recognize this is supported by the good work and service of our employees on and off the job,” said Rod Harkleroad, CEO of Haywood Regional. “We are extremely proud to recognize Johanna for her efforts on behalf of our patients and our community. She goes above and beyond each and every day to ensure that every person she encounters receives the highest level of care and compassion.”
Johanna Dewees, RN joined Haywood Regional Medical Center in 2009. During her time here, she has assisted in the development of the Breast Cancer Nurse Navigator Program, assisted in building the Vein Program and most recently has helped coordinate the Lung Cancer Navigator Program. She keeps multiple medical practices updated of each patient’s journey through treatment and the needs they encounter. Johanna Dewees, RN has been very active in both the Haywood and Sylva communities. During 2018, she assisted in building a playground for the Pigeon Community Multicultural Child Development Center and went on mission trips to West Virginia to build homes. In 2016, Johanna used her vacation time and assisted with the home rebuilding in South Carolina after the catastrophic flooding. Johanna not only plowed her drive on snow days in the winters but also the driveways of six other neighbors. She has worked at a community garden in Sylva serving the Community Table, and she has served at the Open Door, a food kitchen in Waynesville. She taught Sunday School at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville and has been a volunteer for Relay for Life and Power of Pink since 2009. Johanna also helps her neighbors mow their grass and actively participates in Mountain Mama, a charity organization. Johanna wrote a grant to Haywood Healthcare Foundation to obtain gas cards for patients to help remove financial challenges of patients making it to their appointments.
“We were able to provide our patients with excellent care and resources because of Johanna. Her dedication to excellence is an asset to HRMC and makes a difference every day in our patients’ lives,” continues Harkleroad.
Each hospital winner, including Dewees, will be considered for LifePoint’s 2019 companywide Mercy Award. The companywide winner will be announced this summer and honored during a ceremony in Nashville, Tenn., in August, to which Dewees and all hospital winners are invited to attend.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.