| Sigler
named hospital employee of the year
It should take no one by surprise that Dr. Ron Sigler was named the St. Mary’s Hospital Employee of the Year for 2011.  Each
SMH employee received a ballot listing the 12 Employees of the Month for
2011 and were asked to vote for the employee who they felt truly deserved
the honor; after all the votes were cast and counted; Dr. Sigler was the
winner.
This announcement was made during Hospital Week at the employee barbecue. One of the first things that Dr. Sigler said after receiving this award was, “This is an honor that should be shared by everyone here, I could not do my job without each and every one of you, it takes a whole team to succeed.” Dr. Sigler was hired 27 years ago in 1984 fresh out of the family practice residency program at Baylor College of Affiliated Hospitals. He grew up in Dallas, Texas and, like most students, when he started college at North Texas State he didn’t know what he wanted to be. “I took one business class, and the biggest thing I learned from that was I didn’t want to take any more business classes,” he said. His brother who was studying to be a dentist suggested pre-med. Studying the sciences was right up his alley. Dr. Sigler majored in biology and minored in chemistry then attended medical school at the University of Texas. After studying with a rural family practice physician in Wyoming-who was also the father of actor Glenn Close-he decided he wanted to live and work in the Intermountain West. When he saw an ad for a doctor in Cascade, Idaho he immediately called only to be told the position was already filled. However, he was told, there was an opening at a small hospital 100 miles north in Cottonwood. The rest is history. Dr Sigler sees patients in both the Cottonwood and Kamiah Medical Clinics and regularly performs tonsillectomies and endoscopic procedures such as colonoscopies. He sees expectant moms in the two clinics and delivers babies in the hospital’s birthing suite. One of the things Dr. Sigler lists as being most proud of during his almost three decade practice is watching the babies he delivered grow up and have babies of their own. He also says that being part of a patient’s life can mean being part of their final act of living. “People here have a good concept of death being part of life,” he said, citing a phrase he’s often heard: “When God puts his hand on, you take your hand off.” The other SMH Employees of the Month for 2011 were Mikki Bruegeman, Medical Records; Theresa Shears, LPN; Jennifer Cochran, EMT; Julie Church, RN Cottonwood Clinic; Angie Ahlers; Business Office; Arlene Baerlocher, Accounts Payable; Cindy Schnider, Dietary; Kathy Ward, RN Kamiah Clinic; Lori Briggs, Business Office; Dan Pitron, Maintenance; and Diane Sisk RN. |
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