East Washingtonian - Your Hometown News Source

Garfield County Hospital District is pleased to announce June Employee of the Month, Deanne Smith. She was nominated by her co-workers who say, "She is an always goes above and beyond!" Deanne was born and raised in Seattle, Wash., and graduated from Evergreen High School in 1992. Her grandmother and mother are originally from Pomeroy, and several other family members live in Garfield County and the surrounding areas.

After high school, Deanne was married and began working at Dairy Queen as a crew member and was later promoted to a Shift Supervisor, staying with this company until 1998. A year later, Deanne and her husband moved to Everett, Wash., where she was hired at Wendy's fast-food restaurant in a supervisor position. It was here that she gained valuable managerial skills. Working with people came easy to Deanne as she enjoyed interacting with her staff and helping them to become a well-organized team, offering great service.

During her 18 years at Wendy's, Deanne received several promotions, five in all! Starting out as a shift supervisor, she was promoted to Assistant Manager, within just two years. Deanne was quickly recognized for her ability to manage staff and was advanced to the Store Manager, in charge of several more staff members, supervisors, and operating a store in a busy, bustling location.

Her next promotion to Phase I Training Manager propelled her into another stage of management. In this capacity, her duties were concentrating on the training aspect of the company. Her primary focus was adhering to inspections, evaluations, correct training plans and processes, while ensuring compliance of policies and procedures.

Deanne not only excelled at this level, but was promoted once again, this time to Phase II Training Manager, which involved training managers at high positions throughout Wendy's Corporation. When asked what attributed to her high achievements of success in the food industry, she replied, "I loved that job, it was great! I love teaching and teaching the proper way to do things."

In the summer of 2017, she relocated to Las Vegas, Nev., and was employed with Smith's Market Place through Kroger, the largest grocery store chain in the United States. For the next three years, she fulfilled a variety of positions including bookkeeping, cashier, and customer service.

Deanne took a sabbatical from her career and made a life-changing decision to raise her granddaughter, who will be entering first Grade this year. "My focus is to help her with academics, get her into sports and make her successful in life."

She moved to Pomeroy to be near family in October 2020 and joined GCHD in April 2021 in the Environmental Service Department. In the short time she's been here, she has been praised for her work. "She has sure been an asset! Always cheerful, does her job well and checks to see if anything else needs to be done." Deanne never turns up an opportunity to assist, as staff has noted. "Always willing to help. Always has a smile. Always works hard. She is a wonderful asset to our hospital. She is compassionate and dedicated."

Nursing staff have stated, "She does her job with a smile, willing to help wherever she can. Interacts will with residents and other staff. Always very positive."

She does her job well. She keeps the Linen Closet stocked, which saves us from running to the Laundry Room non-stop when getting residents up. She just does an all-around great job.

The dietary staff commented, "She's nice and helpful. Does her job great plus more!" and "Congratulations Deann! I am in full agreement-you deserve this award."

Please help us celebrate Deanne for her commitment in striving to do her best for our patients and staff, and for being an extraordinary example of an outstanding employee!