Parkland Health Center is pleased to announce that Darlene Winch was selected as the Our BJC Values Employee for the month of May 2021. Darlene is a Registered Nurse in Parkland’s Senior Support Center and has worked at Parkland Health Center for 10 years. Darlene is married to Wayne Winch, and is the mother of 3 boys and the grandmother of 8. She enjoys spending time with her family and grandchildren, as well as with her rescue dog, Popcorn.
Darlene’s nomination reads in part, “Darlene goes above and beyond her set job description. Beyond conducting intake interviews and finding placement for patients, she takes on patient care for these patients as well. She always presents with a positive work attitude and pride in what she does, whatever that may be at the time. She takes obvious pride in representing Parkland Health Center, and holds other staff to the same accountability.”
Upon learning she had been selected as May’s Our BJC Values Employee, Darlene said, “I was very excited and surprised. I feel there are many employees who over the past year with COVID have gone above and beyond.”
After over 10 years with Parkland Health Center, Darlene said her favorite part of her job is helping people. “I know it sounds cliché,” she said, “but I have been in the medical field since I was 18 years old.” Darlene began her career as a CNA in a nursing home where her mother also worked, and this is where her love of caring for people began. Darlene later became a Med Tech, and eventually worked as a Respiratory Therapist for nearly 10 years. “I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life,” she said. She missed the hands-on care of taking care of patients and later became a nurse. “Now, I enjoy taking care of psychiatric patients and watching them recover from their mental illness.”
As part of BJC HealthCare, Parkland Health Center employees exhibit our shared values of compassion, respect, excellence, safety, and teamwork.