La Porte Hospital’s LifeWorks Campus providers love their work.
So much so, in fact, that many stayed late on Thursday just to hang out and get to the business community better at their Business After Hours event, sponsored by the Michigan City Chamber of Commerce.
“I have great coworkers, a great doctor to work for. It’s my second family here,” said Laurie Pozos, ophthalmic technician for LifeWorks’ Ophthalmologist Dr. Benjamin Mannix.
The band of colleagues has grown significantly over the last year thanks to service expansions and additions. The facility now offers CareExpress Urgent Care seven days a week, primary care and pediatric walk-in appointments five days a week, midwifery, obstetrics/gynecology and other women’s health outpatient options, and in-house diagnostics and physical therapy.
“We’re just so excited to have a larger presence here in Michigan City,” said Ashley Dickinson, CEO of La Porte Hospital. “We were able to add many different services that answered an unmet need here in the community.”
One of the newest additions, family medicine physician Dr. Tia Dorn, started just over a month ago. She was very impressed with the atmosphere at the Michigan City office.
“I feel that we always try to make everyone feel very welcome,” Dr. Dorn said. “We enjoy being at our jobs and we enjoy working with our patients, and I hope that always comes across when we talk with them.”
Glorious Wilson-Reynolds, pediatric nurse practitioner, was thrilled to join the team when she came on board eight months ago. She adores children, and knew there was a need for her services in Michigan City.
“Kids are amazing,” Wilson-Reynolds said. “They’re so genuine.”
With six children of her own, she knows how tricky it can be to educate kids and parents about staying healthy. She appreciates the opportunity to build relationships with patients and trade tips with their families.
“I’m a parent myself and it doesn’t come with an instruction manual,” she said.
She remembered one mom in particular who recommended grinding up cauliflower and disguising it to help get her picky son to eat his vegetables.
Obstetrics coverage grew from two days a week to four, and soon five, thanks in large part to the efforts of another recent addition, certified nurse midwife and family nurse practitioner Melanie Abner.
“I think this is a great healthcare campus,” Abner said. “I’m so impressed with the physicians and the other midwives and providers that I work with here.”
“We have a very patient-centric practice. We really care about our patients and that’s kind of what midwifery is about, too,” she said.
The evening was a great success, according to Michigan City Chamber of Commerce President Katie Eaton.
“We’ve had a marvelous turnout,” Eaton said. “We’re really happy with the number of people here tonight learning about all the services that are provided here.”
