Mary Lanning Healthcare names 2025 Employee of the Year

HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) - Mary Lanning Healthcare has named Lori Augustin as its 2025 Employee of the Year for her work with cancer patients and their families at the Morrison Cancer Center.

Augustin started working at Mary Lanning Healthcare 13 years ago as a patient representative, making her the first face patients and family members see when undergoing cancer treatment.

The patient who nominated her for the award noted that Augustin has a “personal touch” when greeting patients and tries to learn more about them and their lives. Augustin said that approach is an important part of her role.

“I feel like I’ve gone to a variety of different offices. And I feel that these people are coming here sometimes on a daily basis for several appointments and you get to know them. You get to know their families. And it’s very important to talk to them and, you know, make them feel at ease because it can be very scary going through a cancer treatment,” Augustin said.

One example of Augustin’s personal touch involved helping a patient who had a collection of pink breast cancer awareness badges from police stations across the country but needed one more to complete the collection.

“One day when she was feeling really bad, we had discussed it. And it ended up that I reached out to her hometown in Texas and got her one,” Augustin said.

The project was challenging because October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, had passed, but police station leadership made sure the patient still received a badge.

“I surprised her, hoping that she would not realize it was me. And, of course, she did, but it was just amazing to see her smile and to see how she actually just started crying at the front desk, just because it was overwhelming and she added it to her collection and helped to make it complete,” Augustin said.

Augustin was nominated for the Employee of the Year honor from a pool of 12 other candidates who were nominated for Employees of the Quarter. The Mary Lanning Council chooses Employees of the Quarter based on nominations from patients and staff. The Mary Lanning Healthcare executive team chooses the Employee of the Year.

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