September 17, 2019

PM&R Employees Recognized as Michigan Medicine MVPs

Over the past few weeks, employees across the organization have made it very clear why Michigan Medicine remains the top hospital in the state and among the best in the nation. It’s because of you — the exceptional faculty, staff and learners who go above and beyond to advance health and serve patients, families and colleagues. Several PM&R employees were among those honored for their work.

UM MVP Logo

 Mary Roberts, physical therapist, Canton Health Center

Mary not only cares about her patients, but about her colleagues as well. She has become a mentor for neurological rehabilitation and other specialties. She has also collaborated with Michigan Medicine’s pelvic floor team, developing diagnosis- specific health initiatives and a healthy lifestyle initiative, along with taking on the responsibility of being the primary investigator on a research project. Mary is a star!

Najae Bolden and Kirsten Oard, clinical subjects coordinators, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation

Najae and Kirsten meet with families in the neonatal ICU to inform potential participants about a PediaTrac study. Although their responsibilities are not clinical in nature, they each interact with vulnerable NICU families with sensitivity and professionalism and try to brighten their days. Not only do they display excellence in interactions with families, they also adhere to the highest of standards of data collection and management. I am proud to call them members of our team!
Texas-based Michigan Medicine neurology team (including PM&R faculty member Dr. Emily Briceno)

I’d like to nominate our Texas-based neurology crew who works in the field recruiting participants for an NIH-funded research study called BASIC Cognitive. Our team braves the elements knocking on the doors of randomly-selected households, inviting residents to participate in a memory screening. We live in South Texas and August is typically the hottest month (100-degree daily temperatures), but we have recruited more than 900 participants since our study started. Our team is full of MVPs!

Other outstanding nominees from PMR included:

  • Inpatient rehabilitation day shift nurse aides (team nominated)
  • Inpatient rehabilitation PT/OT transportation aides (team nominated)
  • Kelly Francis, certified pedorthist, BCSC
  • Brian Kelly, D.O., medical director, orthotics and prosthetics
  • Chris Maloney, patient services associate, orthotics and prosthetics, BCSC
  • Leta Nikulshina, rehab tech, PM&R
Accolades