When Debbie Owens of Lincoln began her first job after high school at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital she might not have known it but she chose her career.

Owens has worked in the Medical Records department at ALMH since 1986 and while her duties have changed over the years, her passion for providing excellent service to ALMH patients is as strong as ever. Recently, Owens commitment to high quality patient care was recognized when she named the March Employee of the Month.

As a medical transcriptionist, Owens transcribes medical history & physicals, operative reports, consultations and much more for patients who have been admitted to ALMH. When she began at ALMH, she was a “typing pool secretary” but during that first year was offered a job as a medical transcriptionist and that has expanded over the years. Transcriptionists now utilize medical transcriptionist software that affects the patient’s care from treatment to billing.

Medical Transcriptionists must be able to type quickly and accurately, but they must also be familiar with medical abbreviations, medical phrases, anatomy and physiology. Also, transcriptionists must be able to pay very close attention to what they are transcribing in order to ensure a correct record. An accurate patient record provides details that healthcare professionals use as reference and can be an important part of the diagnostic and treatment process.

Owens was nominated by her co-worker, Beverly Kurka.

“Deb deserves to be recognized for not only her loyalty to ALMH but also for her accuracy and quality of work,” said Kurka.

“I’m proud to work at ALMH. We provide great service to our community and patients. We have a great group of people working here, especially my fellow employees in Medical Records who do a lot of important behind the scenes duties,” said Owens.

Owens lives in Lincoln with her husband, Steve. They will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary next month. They have three children: Jared, Jordan and Josalyn.

ALMH is a 25-bed critical access hospital located at 200 Stahlhut Drive in Lincoln, Illinois and is an affiliate of Memorial Health System. ALMH employs 315 in a variety of roles. For more information about ALMH, visit ALMH.org.