Be the Change 

Our Be the Change awards recognize employees who go the extra mile throughout the year to live Fusion’s core purpose: To improve the lives of everyone we touch.  

Janice Kern
Making an impact on her team, the company, and the community, Janice is selfless with her time and talent. She regularly spends time at animal shelters, attends memorial walks, and raises awareness within our community for important causes. People look to Janice for advice, whether it’s for work or life, and she has a wonderful knack for meaningful compliments that brighten our days. 

Jillian Parlor
Jillian consistently works to involve her team in as many volunteering opportunities as possible, but she always manages to take it a step further. For instance, her team adopted a QLI resident for Christmas in July, discovered it was the resident’s birthday as well, found an extra meaningful gift, and took her team to deliver it all in person. Jillian does amazing work and never seeks credit because she believes it’s just the right thing to do.  

Rookie of the Year 

This award is given to employees who have been at Fusion for 18 months or less and have already made a major impact on their teams and the company.  

Karlee Pohlman
Described as an “absolute monster” with efforts that are second to none, Karlee has found a new gear and pushing her sales skills beyond. She asks questions, looks for advice on how to improve, navigates through tough conversations and situations, and has started coming out of her shell to become a positive influence on the team. Karlee’s energy and attitude are infectious, and people love working with her.   

Taylor Schoneman
Taylor demonstrates an immense amount of drive from the start, not only having an untouchable work ethic, but showcasing how humble and what a positive force she is. She hit impressive sales milestones, and then realized the sales game wasn’t filling her bucket, so she joined the Sales Development Specialist team where she combines her background as an educator and flawless sales skillset to shine.  

Blake Headley
With an outstanding performance and dedication to his work, achieving an impressive sales milestone in just a year and a half, and bringing his infectious positivity and caring gestures to Fusion everyday makes Blake an obvious choice for a Rookie of the Year award.  He has humility, drive, and a can-do attitude that sets a standard. He is dedicated, innovative, and always willing to help. 

Weston Thompson
A dedication to learning and performing at a high level in addition to a passion for excellence earned Weston this award. It’s hard to believe he is a rookie because of his work ethic, expertise, and the way he understands the intricacies of healthcare recruiting. It’s clear that Wes has limitless potential for the future.  

Ashley Hoffman
Ashley is a driving force on the Home Health team, always bringing an exceptional focus and drive to her work with a desire to collaborate and learn. She places healthcare travelers in the positions that best suit them, even if it isn’t the obvious choice, and her impact continues to grow because of her ability to connect with people.  

Riley Kister
From the first interview, it was obvious that Riley was perfect for Fusion. She joined determined to be successful and did just that. She seeks advice on how to perform at a high level and follows it diligently. Teammates describe her as gritty, hard-working, and a true hustler. She has been named a team lead, paying her mentorship forward by showing the same level of leadership and coaching and pouring her soul into all things Fusion.  

Holly Hesse
You could tell from her first days at Fusion that Holly has an infectious personality. She’s one heck of a DJ on the Nursing sales floor and is always there to shout out a teammate or make someone laugh. She is known to test out new recipes on her teammates and is constantly doing extra things to build up our division and bring a spark.  

Allayna Benson
Determined, tenacious and ingenious, Allayna exceeds Fusion’s core values. Her name is often brought up by teammates and leadership for setting the bar so high. What truly sets her apart is a relentless commitment to impeccable customer service, outstanding communication, team motivation and consistently delivering top-tier work. Her reluctance for the limelight is remarkable, as she seeks no recognition for all her exceptional efforts. Her journey at Fusion is just getting started, and the future promises even greater heights. 

Austin Borrego
Austin walked into Fusion’s doors immediately looking to make a splash. He has been dedicated to Fusion, personal development and growth. He comes in early, hustles all day, and stays late to ensure that we’re getting better every day. He quickly cemented himself as a pivotal part of the team, eager to help, hungry to learn, willing to make a mistake, looking for new challenges and constantly seeking to improve.  

Calli Smith
Even though she has only been here for six months, it feels like Calli has always been a part of Fusion. She has accomplished so much professionally while cultivating an incredible team dynamic with a group that is positive, goes above and beyond and is change-ready. She moves the needle with kindness, grace and respect while forging relationships across many departments, connecting their team’s work with what matters to the company. She always asks how to help and what can be done to relieve pain points, making her an invaluable asset to Fusion.  

Chris Ames
Coming into a company midway through a brand project can be extraordinarily difficult. Still, Chris brought a high level of strategy and project management to help develop many aspects, from websites to social media. He was also an integral part of our marketing team restructuring, new social media strategy, and campaign development with a high level of leadership, team building, and organization. He is very adaptable to changes, always shows up with a positive attitude or a quick joke, and is a strong culture fit for Fusion.  

Kelli Sparks
Kelli has a genuine dedication to effectively engage with various stakeholders and create an inclusive and respectful environment. She is great at collaborating with teams across the company and consistently exhibits a profound respect for diverse perspectives, ensuring no idea is ever dismissed. Her positive and collaborative attitude makes a harmonious and motivating work environment, and we are extremely lucky to have found such talent.  

Rachelle Benson
Bringing a needed expertise to Fusion, Rachelle has built authentic relationships across the organization along with an extremely strong squad. Those strong relationships have contributed to the success of implementing Workday, which has been a yearlong project that’ll be a vital component for Fusion’s future. Even when faced with challenges, she remains calm and looks for solutions and what’s best for the team. She exhibits great leadership qualities and is a true culture champion.  

Kory Huwaldt
Kory has not only learned the job, but he has raised the bar. He has excellent customer service skills and a true and top-notch dedication to our employees. Kory takes the initiative to solve problems, look for the best way to complete tasks for the team, and he is undeniably humble, driven, and positive.  

Morgan Halpine
Talk about having the “it” factor for so many fantastic Fusion experiences. Morgan is often behind the scenes adding perfect, thoughtful, and well-planned touches to Fusion events. She spearheads communication, keeping everyone in the know about what’s going on around the company, and has drastically upgraded every event, outing and meeting she has touched. She shows her savvy for being true to Fusion and its heart while evolving our processes. Most of her work goes on behind the scenes, but that doesn’t mean it’s unnoticed.  

Team Player 

This is awarded to Fusion employees who are dedicated to carrying out Fusion’s core purpose and making the biggest impact not only in their role, but also on the company at large.  

Beth Nelsen
Described as a “rising star” at Fusion, Beth’s work in both owning and delivering development programs has made Fusion a better place. She has been a true advocate for Fusion and is a role model for many. She has grown as a leader and continues to push herself to strive for excellence. For Beth, it’s about using her motivation to help push others to be their best while maintaining a high level of compassion. 

Chris Walker
Not only is Chris a huge addition to his teams, but he has also elevated conversations and looks critically at processes – both at the the high and granular levels. There’s a reason Chris has been asked to be a voice on all major Fusion initiatives involving Sales. He has embraced a servant leadership philosophy with his team, and it has rubbed off on our other leaders. Chris is a great representation of how we want to function at Fusion. 

Lacey Rador
Taking over the reins of sales training earlier this year, Lacey did a great job galvanizing the team. Not only has she done great things with her team, but she also makes such a positive impact on the new sales classes. She’s always there to provide guidance, be a shoulder to cry on, advise on handling tough scenarios – anything and everything someone may need.  

Kendall Hazel
Kendall has maintained consistent sales numbers while stepping up when needed. He maintains a level head in both times of triumph and stress, seeing multiple perspectives and presenting fair solutions in any situation. He created the “Friday Flex” to offer a place of unity, fun and a sense of togetherness. This tradition has turned into a celebration of the team, whether that’s successes that past week, birthdays, anniversaries, jokes, funny travel industry memes or shoutouts. Kendall is considered a friend, mentor, advisor and – most of all – a great human.  

Jessica Liekhus
There isn’t anything Jessica won’t take on. Her team leans on her for training new team members and has found many methods to make our jobs more efficient, cutting hours out of multiple people’s workloads. She's the first to jump in when someone needs help or a task needs completed, and she does it all while being engaging and fun to be around.  

Courtney Kavan
Courtney is the ultimate Team Player; she is involved with onboarding for Fusion projects and maps day-to-day operations. She is extremely positive and thinks outside the box to solve problems quickly. Members of several teams look to her for guidance and support, and she steps up on a daily basis to ensure things are running smoothly. She’s there for people to lean on, a fantastic teacher, and a steady force for her division. 

Lindsay Colton
A shining star on the payroll team, Lindsay is an expert in her role and is always ready to jump in to build relationships and support the divisions she oversees. She does not hesitate to help with any task. As the payroll team leads have been pulled heavily into the Workday integrations, Lindsay has stepped up and taken the lead in all areas, supporting teammates and doing it with true kindness and care. To keep it simple, she helps ensure Fusion employees are paid, which is something we are all thankful for.  

Mitch Petersen
“Welcoming” is the first word used to describe Mitch. The next would be “passionate,” about both his position and the people he works with daily. He’s always willing to step up to the plate for a new project and he’s not afraid to go against the grain if it’s beneficial. Mitch has been a catalyst behind a recent incentive that benefits the healthcare professionals we work with. His best quality, though, is that he always makes time for every person on our team.  

Tod Burnham
Tod has worked at Fusion for the last five years and this year, especially, had a vast impact on keeping the team moving forward despite multiple projects and competing priorities. From day-to-day activities with the Help Desk team to leading projects to ensuring things are complete and in working order, he always did it successfully with a smile.  

Jarrad Griffith
Joining the clinical team to take on a pilot program as a liaison for the nursing division, Jarrad’s background as a traveler and most recently a recruiter offered up a great opportunity to launch this role into success. He immediately shaped the role into a successful platform, one that is in the works for being replicated into other divisions. As a healthcare staffing company, Fusion listens to their travelers to offer a clinical voice to be on their side. Jarrad’s overall kind and even-tempered demeanor has been such a welcome addition to the team.  

Bret Martin
Making a huge impact on every sales team inside Fusion’s walls, Bret has become a leader and has branched out to help multiple sales divisions as we put a new focus on direct marketing, setting up times for definitive training, call shadowing or anything that is asked. He is a strong representative outside of Fusion’s walls, attending 10+ trade shows in 2023 and locking in new direct business all over the nation. Bret is definitely not afraid to put his head down and grind. 

Ashley Coenen
Ashley has had a significant impact on the growth and change in Fusion’s legal and contracts team. The team transitioned to a new form and process that they weren’t familiar navigating, and Ashley jumped in head-first, learning not only the basics of the system, but creating automations and workflows to help increase efficiency and decrease turnaround time for contracts. Then, she took the time to train the team on these features. That is just a microcosm of the impact Ashley has made on the team.  

Kristen Kendall
Whenever Kristen’s team needs help, whether it’s training, answering questions or helping to cover others, she has no issue jumping in and getting to work, and it’s always done flawlessly. She continuously gets singled out about her top-notch communication with travelers and our internal team. She is a constant cheerleader for her teammates, ensuring they are kind to themselves.   

Top Producer 

The following individuals were recognized for being the top sales leaders in their divisions.  

Nursing
Jessica Casper
Josh Knight
Tanner Werth
Becca Jacobs
Kayla Kelley
Kayla Marshall
Mallory Murray 

Long Term Care
Kati Parsons
Kim Brophy
Matt Waters
Amanda Kocanda
Kirbi Long
Shelby Lovstad
Ryan Scheetz 

Home Health
Amie Coomes 

Cardio
Eric Vejvoda 

Business Development
Rocky Kudron 

Cath Lab
Sarah Piatkowski
Caroline Fisher 

Lab
Meg Farley
Tony Heer 

Allied National Accounts
Doug Mason 

Therapy
Shanel Atwood 

Radiology
Andy Hanneman
Jordan Murphy 

FWS
Nick Hovermale 

Impact Player 

This is the highest honor a Fusion employee can earn. Being named as an Impact Player means the employees’ contributions were of the highest quality and their work is respected throughout the organization.  

Melanie Barger
Working extremely diligently to provide a seamless transition between buildings, Melanie is willing to get her hands dirty and never backs down from a challenge. If it was not for her, we’re not sure how our move into our new space at Waterford would have been possible. She is supportive of her team and the Fusion family, bleeds Fusion through and through, and her team runs like a Rolex – nonstop.  

Rebecca Cortez
Rebecca had over 1,500 words submitted across several nominations this year, so breaking it down to a few paragraphs is a challenge. Some of the words used repeatedly are joyful, leadership, friendliness, dedication, culture-builder and snack-bringer. Many of the testimonials reference always looking to help others, taking on new tasks, putting people before the job and being an embodiment of what Fusion is about. She received Game Ball nominations in all four quarters. One of her many mentioned accomplishments would be the incredible Sales Dashboard that was recently launched.  

Mitch Mattern
Fusion had two major projects this year impacting the entire company – one was building our new office space, and the other was creating a new brand family. He worked across the organization on BOTH once-in-a-lifetime projects and continued to excel in their day job. Fusion saw his hard work, dedication, and ability to juggle multiple projects to create a new brand and infuse that brand into our daily space. Don’t let that easy-going manner fool you – his passion, expertise and desire to do great work drives everything he does.  

Power Squad

Brand Team

In a multiyear effort, the Marketing team launched not one, not two, but three new brands in October 2023 — the new Fusion Masterbrand, the updated Fusion Medical Staffing brand and the new Fusion Workforce Solutions brand. Their work spanned all areas of the branding, marketing and communications process – research, planning, development, implementation, launch and continuous use and improvement. The journey and experience for Fusion’s many audiences, including travelers, facilities and employees, as well as general corporate audiences, now experience a cohesive, thoughtful and connected family of brands because of the work done by this team. That work will ultimately help position and grow the future of Fusion. 

Fusion Workforce Solutions Team

This team has been a powerhouse day after day over the last year. In a market that’s been less than favorable, they have managed to continue growing each quarter and making an impact in the facilities we partner with. They grew from 170 travelers to 460 in one year and have captured an additional $9 million in billing in facilities by gaining exclusivity for Fusion. The team works cohesively between compliance, operations and billing departments, and everyone wants to win every single day. It’d be hard to find a team that’s more bought in and excited to grow.  

For more information contact:

Leah Kemple / Public Relations Strategist
leah.kemple@fusionmedstaff.com