Jewish Home’s Employees of the Year for 2012, Marie Tesema, Environmental Services supervisor (second from left), and Riza Schlicht, RN (far right). Taking pride in Marie’s and Riza’s recognition are Chana Anderson, Human Resources senior director (far left), and Sandra Simon, chief administrative officer (second from right).
Riza has been part of the Jewish Home staff for close to 14 years. A devoted mother of twin teenage girls, she has always translated her loving and caring manner to our residents, first as a charge nurse and then as one of our first unit managers for F1.
For more than three years now, Riza has been a “super-user” for HealthMEDX, our electronic medical records (EMR) system. With her strong knowledge of nursing practice, understanding of the Jewish Home’s culture, and lots of logic and common sense, she embraced EMR and its future capabilities, and has gone on to develop a training program which she uses to train all levels of users.
Riza’s co-workers describe her as dependable, caring, and compassionate. She is also described as unstoppable. In fact, even Mother Nature cannot stop her. No matter the weather, and through all kinds of storms, Riza is always present at work.
Marie celebrates her 25th anniversary with the Home this year. She began as a housekeeper in the Environmental Services department, and eventually got promoted to Environmental Services supervisor, supervising over 60 employees on a day-to-day basis.
As impressive as is her tenure with the Home, her journey to this part of the world is also quite inspiring. At the age of 15, she trekked on foot from her remote village in Ethiopia to a refugee camp, which is where she met her future husband. He made it to San Francisco in 1982, Marie arrived 18 months later. Once in San Francisco, she attended school, mastering English and learning to adapt to a new culture.
Marie respects the Jewish Home as if it were her own home, and the residents and employees her family. From routine duties to handling high-priority situations, her dedication and commitment – making sure our Jewish Home gleams, taking pride in her work, and expressing the love she has for the Home – are to be commended.
