(Aug. 25, 2023) – The Kansas Hospital Association's Health Care Worker of the Year Award highlights hospital employees who have made a significant contribution to the betterment of their hospital. These individuals are nominated for this award because they routinely go above and beyond the call of duty.
Lori True stepped up when she was needed most and pivoted her career trajectory. At Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems, in Beloit, True worked for several years as a registered nurse in the medical/surgical and intensive care unit. When the hospital had a need for respiratory therapy, she filled it by becoming a licensed respiratory therapist. She has since been promoted to director of respiratory therapy. True has committed her entire health care career to improving and caring for rural citizens. She has led the development of a comprehensive array of respiratory therapy services that are comparable to the services offered at larger facilities.
True has an internal fire that serves her hospital and community well. She leads by example as a working manager and role models all the expectations she asks of her team. The MCHHS respiratory therapy department works at an intense pace. They cover ventilator support, obstetric and newborn airways, emergency room treatments, CPAP/BiPAP processes, cardiac rehabilitation, pulmonary function testing and pulmonary rehabilitation and sleep study services. True leads through adversity with positivity to persevere and serve a critical need in healthy outcomes for patients. Her team, the health system and the community know they can count on True.
True's character is genuine. She goes out of her way to support her patients and her team. True has a shirt that says "lung whisperer," and she truly deserves the shirt. She is selfless in her compassion and empathy and is a constant advocate for patient care. She makes time to listen to each of her patients to develop better practices and standards of care in her community.
True will be recognized, along with other Health Care Worker of the Year nominees, during the KHA Awards Luncheon at the 2023 KHA Annual Convention, on Thursday, Sept. 7, at the Hyatt Regency Wichita/Century II Convention Center in Wichita.
--Shelby Stacy