Honoring Salude’s 2019 Manager of the Year

In 2019, Salude created a new award to recognize department leaders who demonstrate exceptional customer service, leadership in their functional area and significant contributions to the success of Salude. The award is given to one individual quarterly who exhibits excellence in Leadership and Management in the above areas. The four Department Heads recognized in 2019 were Q1: Sheila Smith, Director of Environmental Services; Q2: Karlene Cordwell, Director of Staff Development and Infection Prevention Officer; Q3: Vickie Finney, Human Resources Manager and Q4: Leah Swain, Business Development Director.

“Each of these quarterly award recipients have worked very hard to develop and grow their teams, and each has made unique and significant contributions to Salude’s success in 2019,” says Dee Desai, Executive Director.

In addition, the 2019 Manager of the Year award was recently presented to Vickie Finney, Human Resources Manager. Vickie joined Salude in 2016 as a Human Resources Coordinator. She quickly learned not only the requirements of her job, but she also demonstrated the ability to work beyond the duties of her position, often helping with special projects.

Vickie was promoted to Human Resources Manager in 2018. With this promotion, Vickie added recruitment and retention to her duties, eliminating the need for an outsourced recruitment and talent acquisition company, which Salude had used since opening in 2014. She also hired a Human Resources Assistant and took over payroll and labor management functions. 2019 presented additional challenges and opportunities related to Human Resources Management and needing to make decisions related to changes in health insurance and benefits for our employees. Vickie assisted the Executive Director and CEO in these transitions. She is also the internal IT expert and assists many employees with Power Point, Excel, phone, TV and other issues. Dee Desai, Executive Director, states Vickie is always willing to lend a hand and is a great resource for all of our employees.

Vickie began her career as a part-time administrative assistant in a hospital while working on her bachelor’s degree. She was then promoted to a full-time Executive Assistant where she learned how to communicate with executives, learned the corporate environment, and handled human resources functions that triggered her transition into the human resources field. Her first role in the human resources field was as an HR Specialist handling payroll, timesheets and HRIS tasks.

“My passion for Human Resources started from seeing areas that needed improvement in communication from front line staff and their leaders. Working alongside great co-workers that have a strong passion to make Salude great is very satisfying. My goal in HR is to hear all voices of the company and create a better flowing team and build upon a company's human capital. I believe a company is nothing without its team and employees,” Vickie said. She is currently working on a master's degree in Human Resources Management.

On a personal note, Vickie says she is a strong family person. She has been married for one year to her  lovely husband whom she considers her motivator, cheerleader, and world. Together they nurture three dogs — a husky/lab, German shepherd/husky, and husky/Shiba. Vickie is full-blooded Puerto Rican and loves to teach others how to speak Spanish and do Salsa dancing. Vickie also likes to draw, play video games, and lay on the couch after days working at Salude.

Congratulations to Vickie on being recognized as the 2019 Salude Manager of the Year!