Dallas--
Dennis Mink, Supervisor of Cardiac Rehab at Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake, was named Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council’s Employee of the Year at a luncheon on April 30. This is the second year in a row that a Doctors Hospital employee received this honor.
The Employee of the Year luncheon serves to boost morale in the healthcare community and offers hospital employees a chance to be recognized. This is an occasion where hard work and community spirit are acknowledged and validated. There were 48 nominees from hospitals across the metroplex, from among more than 50,000 hospital employees. Dennis was one of seven Employees of the Year.
Dennis, who has worked at Doctors Hospital for 27 years, was nominated by co-worker Linda Gould, who said, "Dennis Mink is consistently positive, energetic and always willing to lend a hand. He is an exemplary employee and genuinely one of the most sincere people you could ever know. Patients often remark that Dennis really cares about them and their families."
Dennis Mink is a hero who made an extraordinary effort to save a man on the verge of taking his own life. In the middle of the night, Dennis received a call from the hysterical wife of one of his patients with severe lung disease. She said her husband, a retired law enforcement official, locked himself in the bedroom and would only open the door for Dennis. Without hesitation, Dennis drove to the man’s home.
Dennis knocked on the door, and the gentleman unlocked it and told him to come in. When Dennis entered, he found a man depressed, not taking his medication, with a gun pointed under his chin. He told Dennis he felt there was no hope. Yet somehow, when he saw Dennis, he put the gun down.
For three hours, Dennis talked to him about his llife, family and the gentleman’s favorite subject -- fishing. Dennis convinced this man that there was hope and promised to come by his house everyday and work with him until they could go fishing together. After this patient underwent therapy and counseling, he and Dennis have now gone fishing on several occasions.
"This year’s luncheon theme was appropriately ‘Lone Star Heroes'," said Kristin Jenkins, president of the DFWHC Foundation. "This event paid tribute to our healthcare heroes – our nurses, technicians, educators and so many other dedicated professionals working in the trenches. It was an opportunity to honor these crucial workers."
"We are all so proud of Dennis and all that he contributes to our hospital and community," stated Mitch Edgeworth, CEO of Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake. "Employees like him make our hospital not only an outstanding place to work but also the best place to receive healthcare."