PITTSBURG — David Andersen, DDS of Iola, was recently recognized by the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas for embodying the spirit of service in his daily practice as a dentist.
Andersen received the Sheridan Award during the organization’s annual employee service awards banquet.
The award is named for Mother Bernard Sheridan, CSJ, who in 1903 opened Mount Carmel Hospital. Her mission continues on the same ground as the location of CHC/SEK’s Pittsburg clinic and administrative offices.
Mother Sheridan’s instructions to her small staff of Sisters was to “Do all the good you can, in all the ways that you can, for all the people that you can for as long as you can.”
That charge is painted on the walls of CHC/SEK clinics and printed on the back of every employee badge as a reminder.
In presenting the Sheridan award, Jason Wesco, executive vice president of CHC/SEK, said “Dr. Andersen believes that all individuals deserve quality care delivered with dignity and compassion and he lives those values every day at work, in his community, in following his faith, and as a wonderfully dedicated father and husband.” Wesco continued, “In his relatively short time at CHC/SEK, he has cared for patients during nearly 11,000 visits, sometimes providing counseling and comforting to those in need, in addition to excellent dental care. As each of his patients and co-workers will tell you, he is so much more than a dentist. He is a healer and is the embodiment of our collective vision of health care the way it should be.”
