Erin Yarkosky, MSN, FNP-C, DNP, Director of Occupational Medicine, Urgent Care, Employer Direct Clinics & Community Health at Wilson Health, has been nominated for the Ohio Hospital Association's Healthcare Worker of the Year Award.
Nomination:
Erin has a true passion for what she does. When we think of changing the healthcare landscape, Erin is someone who stands among the few. One month before the COVID-19 pandemic, she launched a new innovative medical practice model that focused on convenience and patient access. Understanding the rising healthcare costs employers were experiencing, Erin was able to offer a solution for companies. Amongst the first in the region, Erin led the way and helped open the first near-site medical practice serving seven partner companies. Today, that practice alone has grown to serve 11 area-based companies. Under Erin’s direction, Wilson Health has now opened two new on-site clinics located within large manufacturing companies, along with a second near-site clinic comprised of several new partner companies, including Wilson Health.
Erin is passionate about implementation of best practices and evidenced based medicine. She is always proactive and looking at creative options and not afraid to challenge the status quo. She loves to dig to the root of an issue and learn from it. In Erin’s words, “True motivation is improving care for patients right here where we live as well as abroad. Need is need and we are all truly one.” Erin has been serving Central America communities through her regular medical mission work. Her motivation is finding a way to do the impossible and what needs done to care for others and not taking the easy way. Her motivation is to teach kindness and compassion to not only her own children, but her work family as well. Having cared for patients at every level of nursing, Erin would not have it any other way as each degree has different gifts to give to those she has served. She enjoys speaking about her non-traditional pathway in her career and education.
With 29 years of nursing and health care experience, Erin has moved up in leadership roles at Wilson Health. She has experienced first-hand how difficult it is to make some decisions, but has always kept the patients front and center. She has made it her mission to learn the jobs of those around her. From registration, clerical and courier duties to the responsibilities of the provider, she believes that this approach has greatly aided her in understanding her team’s challenges and concerns. They know that she truly cares about each and every one of them. This open dialogue and mutual understanding has helped solve numerous problems and helped to retain staff at Wilson Health. Erin says, “I want them to be involved in as many decisions as possible. I like to think through different scenarios with the staff as they often have great ideas and different viewpoints that offer better and more creative solutions than if I did it on my own.” Erin can help in any clinical role in key patient care areas throughout Wilson Health. If staff is ill or the Emergency Department or Urgent Care clinics are extra busy, it is not uncommon to find Erin helping in these areas to ensure we are taking proper care of our patients.
Erin’s ‘can do’ mentality has led to attracting new business for Wilson Health. When other health systems have declined to company requests for late night and/or off-shift health services, Erin and her team have stepped up and accommodated these requests. It is not uncommon to see Erin personally conducting drug screenings for companies at 11 p.m. to help meet their needs. Wilson Health has regained business and become the preferred healthcare partner for many area employers due to Erin going above and beyond to meet the customer/patients’ needs.
ASPIRE: To always serve with professionalism, integrity, respect and excellence. These are the values of the Wilson Health organization. Respect for all life. For Erin, this is key. If you respect others for who they are, and show kindness and compassion, the other core values will follow. Erin has volunteered as an advisor for the 4-H Shelby County Camp for many years. As an advisor, she learned that you never know what someone else is going through. Through this experience, it has taught Erin to take the time and truly listen to her campers, which has led to her taking more time with her patients. Erin says, “It makes a world of difference. From going on my medical mission trips and not being able to provide the same standard of care that I can in the United States was very difficult at first. I soon realized that people everywhere just want to be heard and know that someone cares and respects them.” For Erin it is easy to become jaded and hardened by day-to-day tasks. Through volunteerism, both locally and globally, it keeps her grounded and serves as a constant reminder of why she works in the first place -- to serve others.
Erin has served as a 4-H Advisor for six years and a Camp Nurse for the past 10 years. She has taken Medical Mission Trips to Central America with Caring Partners International six times within last four years. She credits these outreach opportunities and serving the underserved populations for her continued commitment to healthcare. Erin volunteers with local church partners for community Thanksgiving meals and is always willing to step up and help with other community outreach programs. Erin says, “Really what it boils down to is that I love to serve others. On my next medical mission trip, I am taking two other Wilson Health colleagues with me. These trips teach compassion and critical thinking skills. I get to teach and serve at the same time. It is only by the grace of God that I have these opportunities and I am so abundantly grateful.” Erin shared the story of Abraham who she met on one of her mission trips. Abraham’s mother cleaned the restrooms at the church where Erin and her team were providing medical care. One of the pharmacists asked for a thermometer as a young child looked ill. This child was Abraham. After further medical evaluation, Erin and the team determined he was cyanotic, diaphoretic and struggling to breathe. Transportation to the local hospital was nearly impossible as their ambulances barely have any supplies and very rarely have oxygen. Erin gave Abraham what she could, which consisted of antibiotics, steroids and breathing treatments. His oxygen was 82% and he was very weak and hardly drinking. Erin did not leave Abraham’s side all day until the clinic closed. It was during this time the young boy became unresponsive. Erin continued supportive care and finally was able to locate an ambulance. However, Abraham was only able to receive 15 minutes of the ambulance’s oxygen. Abraham’s mother did not want her son transported as the care is so poor at the local hospital and she could not afford a private hospital. Erin recalls praying so very hard for young Abraham. She didn’t want to leave him, but knew it was time to go. The next morning Abraham came back to the clinic with his mother, still ill, but he had made it through the night. The team continued supportive care until it was time to leave and return to the United States. Two years later Erin went on another medical mission trip that happened to be at the same church. Erin says, “I feel a sudden hug from someone behind me and it was Abraham. For two years, I prayed for him. To see him alive and well and attending the very church in which we cared for him two years earlier was nothing short of a miracle.”
Erin’s favorite bible verse comes from Esther: Perhaps this is the moment that you have been created for.
You never know how a single decision can impact someone else’s life. Erin was not supposed to go on the mission trip two years later after she met Abraham. Due to cancellations, the organization called to see if she could go, and of course, she agreed.
Congratulations to Erin Yarkosky on being named Wilson Health's nominee for OHA Healthcare Worker of the Year.