Norman Regional Honors Liana Gray as Healer of the Year

Congratulations to Liana Gray, supervisor of Volunteer Services, on being selected as Norman Regional’s Healer of the Year for Fiscal Year 2021!

Liana was one of 12 healers in the running for the recognition after being selected as Norman Regional’s Healer of the Month in November 2020.

Liana said she was surprised about being chosen as the Healer of the Year because she knows how challenging this past year has been for front line healers.

“We are a health system and obviously that’s the bread and butter – patient care from the clinical staff. I was thinking though how nice it was that out of all the Healers of the Month, there were several that were not clinical. I was impressed to see that our health system really recognizes all the pieces, departments and units that come together to really make the whole place run,” Liana said.

Although Liana is not clinical, she and the Volunteer Services team played, and continue to play, a crucial role in the health system’s response to COVID-19.

As supervisor of Volunteer Services, Liana supervises all teen, college and adult volunteers, coordinates all volunteer schedules, develops volunteer programs within interested departments throughout the health system, and supervises Nu-N-Nuf and formerly the Doris Luttrell Hospitality House.

When COVID struck, Liana and the Volunteer Services team had to pause normal volunteer operations, while still running nine entrances, helping whenever and wherever needed, and coordinating the schedules of all healers screening at those entrances. Liana and her team also took every change, which happened often, in stride and made it all happen seamlessly – coordinating signage changes, helping inform departments of the current policies, having to do the hard job of turning visitors away or determining if someone needed to be in one of our facilities, etc.

“We always manage the entrances, but during COVID – that was a completely different beast. We had the task of enforcing the health system’s policies to do what’s best for our patients, while also sticking to strict COVID-related guidelines,” Liana said. “I made a lot of new friends during that time though – people I wouldn’t usually get to know. It’s nice to recognize a lot more friendly faces around the health system now.”

Liana said she feels like Volunteer Services is usually a “silent department” and not many people know what they do, but the COVID-19 pandemic helped get more people involved in the department and find out more about them.

Wendy Fiebrich, director of Volunteer Services, said comments about Liana often include her being caring, happy, pleasant and kind. One comment from a volunteer in particular said, “She encourages us as volunteers by making sure we have the support and appreciation we need.”

“Liana checks all the boxes in our department and the ICARE values,” Wendy said. “She elevates all of us to be better, stronger employees and goes above and beyond in her daily work. We’re so appreciative to you (Liana) and to all you do to make our volunteers and us feel appreciated.”

When asked what she likes best about her job, Liana said she likes that it’s never boring.

“I like that it’s different every day, and the variety of it. I’m definitely a ‘doer’ type person, so I like that I’m always doing something. I also like there’s always a new challenge,” she said.

The other healers in the running for Healer of the Year included Janet Sherman, Melissa Whitaker, Patti Guthrie, Kathy Brougham, Ty Woodward, Rebecca Milam, Krista Stewart, Ken Fertitta, Sharon Reddig, Stacy Pattillo and Roy Pendergraft.

“One thing is certain and it’s clear to me that these healers enjoy the work that they do, they have a passion for the work that they do, and they thoroughly enjoy the people they do that work with – their teams, their work environment, and their friends they meet across the organization – you’re all truly an important part of our Norman Regional family and I thank you for your work each and every day,” President and CEO Richie Splitt said. “You’re all fantastic and deserving of the Healer of the Month award and the Healer of the Year award.”