Laura Chesley, Trion resident and Therapy Outcomes Coordinator-Assistant Occupational Therapist at Pruitt Health in Fort Oglethorpe, has been named as the Northern Peach Region Therapy Health Care Hero.

Laura, who has been employed with Pruitt Health since October, 2017, works as an Assistant Occupational Therapist and is the Therapy Outcomes Coordinator in her department at the facility. She was nominated for this award by Dr. Kevin Crickard.

Dr. Crickard had this to say about Laura:

 On or about June 6th, 2020, life at PruittHealth of Fort Oglethorpe changed dramatically.  On that day the first two of 82 positive COVID residents began.  In that first week, there were 33 resident room transfers.  Every department experienced significant staffing losses, but none more than our therapy department.  The entire therapy staff, except for Ms. Chesley, left and never returned.

            Being one of the first PruittHealth facilities to go Code Red, our sister facilities were unable to send us support staff.  Until mid-September, Ms. Chesley ran the entire therapy department single-handedly!  Regardless of the facility status and with complete disregard for her own safety, Ms. Chesley had perfect attendance throughout this entire cycle.  Additionally, she has had perfect attendance throughout her 4 plus year service to us. In addition to Ms. Chesley’s perfect attendance in these difficult times, her character and attitude remained unwavering.  Always positive and cheerful, Ms. Chesley was an encouragement to other partners during the chaos.  She was willing to do any task to help others, and she was always there to thank the other partners for the work that they were doing.

            Now that we’re back to “normal”, our therapy department has been a cornerstone of our offering here at Fort Oglethorpe.  We are exceeding our budget by 30-70% on profitability and productivity, and our reputation is in large part a result of our awesome therapy group as we moved from a two star to a four star CMS rating during this period.

            It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I recommend Ms. Laura Chesley for her herculean efforts during this most strenuous evolution.  Please chose her as a recipient of the Therapy Healthcare Hero award.

Congratulations to Laura Chesley for all her hard work and dedication!