Congratulations to Juneanne Volk, RN (retired 2018) for recieving the 2021 SDAHO Distinguished Service Award for Healthcare Hero of the Year. Juneanne has served patients for over 50 years, retiring in 2018 from the Mobridge Regional Hospital and Clinics.
Juneanne attended Presentation College in Aberdeen where she graduated with a nursing degree. She worked as a nurse’s aide while attending college and after graduation she and her husband Tom returned to their hometown of Mobridge where they live today. Juneanne started with the Mobridge Regional Hospital and Clinics as a registered nurse in 1971.  Through the course of her career, Juneanne held many supervisory positions, while providing high-quality and compassionate bedside nursing. Juneanne also took on the leadership of disaster preparedness for the organization. She was the go-to person for infection control and emergency preparedness for natural and man-made disasters. Although Juneanne had retired by the time COVID-19 would hit South Dakota, she knew she had a skill set and experience level that could benefit the organization and the entire community, so she put her retirement on hold and joined the COVID-19 Command Team. Juneanne has stayed connected with pandemic efforts assisting with vaccination clinics and today she assists with the flu shot clinics.
Earlier this year June was nominated by John Ayoub, CEO of Mobridge Regional Hospital and Clinics as a SDAHO Healthcare Hero. Her story and video were published on April 12, 2021, and since that time, it has reached over three thousand viewers, and has been seen in over eight states and three countries. Throughout the video, Juneanne speaks openly about her earliest memories wanting to be a nurse and hoping to have a nurse’s cape when she got older. She shared her passion for rural healthcare and the respect she has for her colleagues and the Mobridge Regional Hospital and Clinics. Juneanne’ s incredible story and dedication to her profession and community, prove that she is a true healthcare hero.
On Friday Oct. 15, 2021, Juneanne, her family, friends, the community and the SDAHO team gathered in Mobridge to celebrate and recognize Juneanne for being this year’s Healthcare Hero of the year. During this celebration, Juneanne was honored by those who admire and appreciate all she had done throughout her career, in addition she was awarded her long overdue nurses cape.
Juneanne Volk, congratulations on being this year’s SDAHO Healthcare Hero of the Year, thank you for all you do.
To watch the full ceremony, visit the SDAHO youtube page.
