Zelva Lee, supervisor in the Central Sterilizing Department at Haywood Regional Medical Center, was named Employee of the Month for January.

This is the second time Lee has been named Employee of the Month at Haywood Regional. She began working part-time at Haywood Regional while she was still in high school at Tuscola High. She was hired as a full-time employee in June 1979 and will soon observe 31 years at the hospital in the same department.

“I have great employees that work with me cleaning, packaging and sterilizing instruments for surgery. Things have changed over the years. Equipment has evolved. For example, we used to use muslin fabric for wrapping instruments and now we use disposable wrappers,” Lee said.

There also is a high volume of surgeries at Haywood Regional now, Lee said, which means a greater number of packaged instruments being processed on a daily basis. She attributes that to some of the current physicians, who are performing more advanced procedures than in the past.

“I was at Haywood Regional when we started laparoscopic gallbladder surgery,” Lee said, explaining other medical advances during her tenure.

Lee’s job performance was applauded on two Catch Someone cards, the nomination process used at Haywood Regional Medical Center to recognize outstanding employees.

“Zelva is a good leader and cares about her employees. She is always there when you need her even if it is just to listen to our problems.  Zelva always makes us feel better about our job. When we get busy, she is always out in the area to give a hand,” a fellow employee wrote about Lee on a Catch Someone card.

“Zelva has many other duties and yet finds the time to always helps us out and gets things done.  She takes things home so she can ‘keep up’ with everything that needs to be completed and, she is always on call.  Zelva is always teaching us so we continuously grow and learn. Even when another department that we interact with has a problem, she is instrumental in providing solutions. I am proud to work with and for her.  She deserves to be the employee of the year,” her co-worker wrote.

Lee and her husband Rocky have been married 26 years and have one daughter, Emily, who is expecting her first baby.