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37th annual employee service celebration honors UMMS staffers with milestone anniversaries

  Chancellor Collins congratulates Carlisle Fletcher for 30 years of service.
 

Chancellor Collins congratulates Carlisle Fletcher for 30 years of service.

   
  (from left) Chancellor Collins presented the 2015 Chancellor’s Award for Advancing the UMMS Mission to Work Without Limits Employer Engagement Team members Alexis Henry, ScD, Kathy Petkauskos, Megan Northup and Kathy Muhr.
 

(from left) Chancellor Collins presented the 2015 Chancellor’s Award for Advancing the UMMS Mission to Work Without Limits Employer Engagement Team members Alexis Henry, ScD, Kathy Petkauskos, Megan Northup and Kathy Muhr.

Music, conversation and laughter filled the Albert Sherman Center on Wednesday, Oct. 21, when the 37th annual employee service celebration recognized 298 employees marking milestone anniversaries. The event also featured the presentation of the Chancellor’s Award for Advancing the UMMS Mission.

Chancellor Michael F. Collins presided over the event, recognizing employees with 25 or more years of service. He thanked all attendees for their commitment to fulfilling the mission and vision of UMMS. Those celebrating milestone anniversaries—10 or more years of service—included 16 employees with 25 years; 18 with 30 years; six with 35 years; and one with 40 years.

Chancellor Collins  presented the employee engagement team of Commonwealth Medicine’s Work Without Limits initiative the 2015 Chancellor’s Award for Advancing the UMMS Mission.

The Chancellor’s Award for Advancing the UMMS Mission is bestowed annually upon an individual staff member or team whose actions make a substantial impact in advancing the mission of the institution through public service, research, teaching, and health care delivery.

Work Without Limits was established in 2008 with the Central Massachusetts Employment Collaborative and Business-to-Business Network, a consortium of public and private companies that value an inclusive work environment and learn best practices from one another. The program has since expanded its reach with an annual conference and job fair called “Raise the Bar Hire!” that connects individuals with disabilities who seek employment with employers who seek their talents.

The award was accepted by Work Without Limits employer engagement team members Alexis Henry, ScD, associate professor of psychiatry; Kathy Petkauskos, senior program director for Work Without Limits; Kathy Muhr, project director for the CWM Center for Health Policy and Research; and Megan Northup, project assistant for the Center for Health Policy and Research.  

“Our Commonwealth Medicine division has proven to be especially productive ground for initiatives that reflect and advance our public mission, while also helping to protect the most vulnerable, underserved and underrepresented populations in Massachusetts,” said Collins. “Work Without Limits has emerged from such a dynamic environment, and represents how all of these elements can seamlessly come together to advance our mission and the public good.”

See the full list of employees celebrating service milestones in the event program.

Related links on UMassMedNow:
UMass Medical School conference will educate employers about recruiting people with disabilities
UMMS and state partner to increase employment of people with disabilities
Work Without Limits to hold second annual conference
Boston Globe: Work Without Limits connecting disabled with jobs
Telegram: Work Without Limits finding jobs for people with disabilities
Employees with disabilities turn blue hospital wrap into green products: Work Without Limits connects Seven Hills Foundation with Cambridge startup for recycling jobs