October 14, 2003

Health Center's Newest
Husky Hero Gives Job Her All

You'll never hear "That's not my job" from Linda Morin. Instead, the clinical lab's administrative program coordinator is more likely to say, "I can help with that."

Linda Morin, administrative program coordinator in the Department of Laboratory Medicine, has been recognized as the third "Husky Hero." Photo by Peter Morenus

"She's phenomenal," says Judith Gaffney, clinical lab supervisor in the UConn Cancer Center. "She has a wonderful attitude. Something may not her biggest priority nor her primary responsibility, but she's always willing to help and she always comes through. She goes above and beyond all the time."

Morin's approach to her work has earned her the title Husky Hero. She is the Health Center's third recipient of the award.

It takes four PAWS awards - Part of a team; Awesome attitude; Wonderful work ethic; Superior service - to earn the designation Husky Hero, the Farmington campus version of the Medal of Honor.

Those who work with Morin say she exemplifies all four virtues:

"Look up the word 'multitasking' in the dictionary and you might see a picture of Linda Morin at her desk," says Irene Kowalski, clinical lab chief of laboratory medicine. "Her daily job functions - administration, purchasing, payroll, etc. - are done so well as to make them seem effortless. She is a good friend, a good listener, and has a generous spirit."

Dr. Melinda Sanders, a professor of anatomic pathology, describes Morin as a "team player". "She's always willing to help out," Sanders says. "She manages to keep a lot of people happy."

Morin, a New Britain native and 20-year employee at the Health Center, is reluctant to talk about herself. But she admits to a strong work ethic that she says she learned from her parents.

"You have a job, you give 100 percent," she says. "You do the job every day the best you can."

She also praises her colleagues and co-workers without whom, she says, she wouldn't be able to successfully complete her tasks.

Morin's job entails the sorts of activity any administrative coordinator might do: purchasing, ordering, and processing accounts payable.

But the clinical aspects of lab medicine - the department that does a wide range of medical testing, including blood testing - adds another dimension to her work. Besides dealing with patients, their forms, and their questions, there's scheduling for the phlebotomists on campus and off, coordination with the satellite clinics in East and West Hartford and with research trials in the clinical research center, questions to answer, and arrangements to make with faculty members and community physicians.

"I love my job," she says. "There's always something different. When patients come and they're looking for answers to bills or paperwork or they have questions, you help them get results. They say 'Thank you,' and it makes me happy.

"Sometimes when a patient comes in and they're sick or a family member needs reassurance, you have to go that extra mile. Often I think when I'm on the phone with a patient, 'This could be my parents,' or 'This could be a family member.' You always treat them as you would your own family.

"One day my parents may need help and I want the utmost in care for them."