April 1, 2022
Elizabeth Cunningham Mission Champion April 2022
Elizabeth Cunningham, OTR/L, joined St. Joseph Hospital’s Rehabilitation Department 20 years ago. Beth started her career as an Occupational Therapist working with both inpatient and outpatient services for 11 years before being promoted to the Manager of Inpatient Rehabilitative Services.
When Beth comes to work, she truly feels like she is working with her family, which she credits to the great team around her. Beth says that her teams claim to fame here at St. Joe’s is the longevity of the employees in her department. Nobody could have predicted or prepared for the global pandemic, but in true St. Joseph fashion, Beth and her team worked together as one to get through this very difficult time. The pandemic is one of the most unforgettable challenges of Beth’s career. Although this has been a scary and difficult time for all, Beth never felt alone. Everyone worked in unison to help achieve the mission of the hospital.
Beth’s most cherished personal memory of her twenty years here was delivering her two children at St. Joseph Hospital. This very joyful moment in her life was made even more special by having her “work family” around her to share in the joy of the birth of her children.
Patti Motyka, MS, OTR/L Inpatient Rehabilitation Services Program Director, says “Beth is an amazing team member. She is extremely accountable and ensures that she is available for bed meetings, to ensure there is no delay from the therapy perspective.” Even when she has a day off, she often joins the calls just to make sure things run smoothly. Beth communicates to her team so they are efficient, effective, and aware of any changes that may affect them. Also, Beth could not be more team oriented. When a need arises, she is there. Several times when staffing shortages existed during the Covid surge, Beth came in after her shift in the evening to provide helping hands-on 3N. She saw how hard everyone was working and simply had to help despite having a busy day and home life.
When Beth is not helping patients with their rehab you can find her either on the stage or in the hockey rink. Beth has a passion for musical theater with her husband Dave. She will be performing with her community theater group dancing in Godspell this month. After performing on stage, she bundles up and heads to sit in the hockey stands to cheer on her kids Parker (age 10) and Ashlyn (age 6), as well as her husband who coaches their teams. Beth’s family is active and always ready to have some fun!
Congratulations, Elizabeth!