PeaceHealth Mission and Values Award recipient – Mary Ann Pahang

Mary Ann Pahang, CNA/Team Support at PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center’s New Horizon Long-term Care Unit in Alaska, is described by her colleagues as devoted, a fierce advocate for patients, inspirational and meticulous.

“Mary Ann is one of the most devoted staff members and genuinely tries to understand and meet the needs of our residents,” says Maggie Mayer-Chupka, a care management medical social worker who works with Mary Ann. “She knows them not by their room number, not by their diagnoses and not by their behaviors, but by who they are as people. She finds ways to make all our residents feel cared for and loved, whether it’s washing, cutting and styling their hair, giving manicures and pedicures, accompanying residents to lunch, ordering specialized equipment or simply sitting with them during good and bad times.”

A few years ago, when transitioning from a traditional CNA role to a team support role, Mary Ann asked to continue to provide patient care. Just as she did as a CNA, Mary Ann continued to come in early to work the floor, wake residents up and get them dressed and fed.

“Because of this, Mary Ann continues to know each resident and is able to report their needs and progress to staff and administration,” says Social Worker Amber Raber. “When I need to write a resident behavior plan, I meet with Mary Ann first because she can tell me the best way to work with the residents and how we can care for them with love and boundaries.”

Mary Ann’s work in her new role resulted in faster turnaround times for Preadmission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR)/Long-term Care authorizations, an increase in approved Medicaid authorizations and clarity in requests from the state and in the referral process. As an example, the admission paperwork for the PASRR process used to take up to a week, extending the patient’s length of stay and causing frustration for both patients and staff. Thanks to Mary Ann’s efforts, the process now takes one to two days, reducing a patient’s length of stay and increasing their satisfaction while increasing revenue for PeaceHealth.

“Mary Ann is meticulous. She learned exactly what needs to be done to fill out the PASRRs correctly,” says Amber. “When a PASRR was denied, she used that as an opportunity to learn. She would call the state directly and find out the issue, then she would train the rest of us. Mary Ann gave the state her personal cell phone, which they used often to directly call her regarding these forms.”

These examples reflect how Mary Ann effectively models the PeaceHealth Mission and the Value of Respect as a caregiver every day.

Mary Ann is PeaceHealth’s 2022 systemwide Mission and Values Award recipient for the Value of Respect. These awards recognize inspiring caregivers who are living PeaceHealth’s Mission and Values of Social Justice, Stewardship, Respect and Collaboration, every day.

Learn more about PeaceHealth’s other 2022 systemwide Mission and Values Awards honorees:

• Overall: Linda Coordes, LICSW, PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center
• Collaboration: Debbie Ulbricht, PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center, University District
• Social Justice: Khanh Trinh, PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center
• Stewardship: Tricia Wooden, MD, PeaceHealth Medical Group, Vancouver