COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

County Manager's Office

DATE:

December 2, 2002

BOARD MEETING DATE:

December 17, 2002

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

John Maltbie, County Manager

SUBJECT:

Employee of the Month for December 2002

Recommendation

Honor Irma Benitez as Employee of the Month for December 2002 and authorize the President of the Board to sign the commendation.

Background

The Employee of the Month program was established in December 1984 to recognize and honor County employees who consistently demonstrate an outstanding level of performance.

Our Employee of the Month for December 2002 is Irma Benitez, Patient Services Assistant II in the Health Services Agency.

Discussion

Irma Benitez is one of San Mateo County's quiet treasures. She has been working as a Patient Services Assistant with the San Mateo County AIDS Program for nine years. Irma is extraordinarily courteous and pleasant to both clients and staff. She is an efficient, accurate and diligent worker, adept at making clients newly diagnosed with HIV feel welcomed to our program. She has a gentle and sweet way of reaching out to our most difficult clients and assisting them to be consistent in their care. She touches the lives of clients living with multiple illnesses: AIDS, Hepatitis C, drug addiction and mental illness among others. She deftly communicates warmth while maintaining professional boundaries. Year after year our patients universally laud her with praises in the County's San Mateo Cares Survey.

Irma is also very knowledgeable and helpful to staff. She is the quintessential team player and is always supportive of her co-workers. She is excellent at multi-tasking and readily offers her assistance when so requested. She focuses on solutions and on improving clinic functions. She is reliable and always follows through on her commitments, gladly offering to take additional tasks such as to interpret for a monolingual Spanish-speaking client, to come in a little early to set up the coffee or to help the drop-in center staff set up an activity. She is very quick with a smile and has tremendous patience and tolerance.

Our County is fortunate to have Irma Benitez as one of its outstanding employees.

Vision Alignment

This item keeps the commitment of responsive, effective and collaborative government through goal number 21: County employees understand, support and integrate the County vision and goals into their delivery of services.