Gundersen St. Joseph's honors 340 years of employee service

Gundersen St. Joseph's Hospital and Clinics recently honored long-serving employees at their annual company picnic and employee recognition event. All-together, 26 employees were honored for milestone years of service. Combined, they represent 340 years of service to Gundersen St. Joseph's.

The longest serving employee to be recognized at the event was Laurene Wurster, RN, who was celebrating her 45^th year with Gundersen St. Joseph's. Laurene earned her BSN from Viterbo School of Nursing in 1973 and quickly earned the title of head nurse at St. Joseph's Hospital ­- providing oversight to multiple departments such as Medical/Surgical, Emergency, Obstetrics and a 65 bed Nursing Home. Laurene's recognition was presented by Toni Tengblad, BSN, chief of Clinical Operations at Gundersen St. Joseph's. "Within the multiple nursing roles that Laurene has held, she has consistently demonstrated a strong work ethic and open willingness to assist physicians and nurse colleagues in meeting the needs of patients.  Her focus has always been on high quality care," says Tengblad. As the years passed, Laurene took on new roles and now serves in the capacity of Veterans Service coordinator as well as assisting with new initiatives in disease management and pre-authorization.

Individuals celebrating milestones included, 5 years - James Burch, Rachel Kerian, Morlan Sebranek, Melissa Winchel, Tammie Skrabel, Toni Tengblad, Denise Kroes, Jessica Thompson, Joni Graewin, Maria Jurco, Paul Gasser and Florita Mattison; 10 years -  Kamela Quinnell, Lisa Verbsky and Penny Rieck;  15 years -  June Blaha, Rachel Haworth, Nicolee Bollig, Angela Novy, and Joann Kuester; 20 years - Jenny Thompson and Angela Clark; 25 years - Gina Labansky and Amy Sebranek, 40 years - Diane Brown; and  45 years - Laurene Wurster.

The administrative team of Gundersen St. Joseph's, along with the entire St. Joe's family, would like to thank these staff members for their commitment to care in our communities.