Health & Wellness
Top photo: Members of the Allen Township Fire Department (pictured, left to right: Lieutenant Ryan Heckel, Captain Neal Page, Chief Steve Brose, Firefighter Jerry Branton, and Firefighter Don Thompson) present a tribute for Shawn Millen to the Memorial Hospital Pharmacy Department. The memorial plaque was handcrafted by Branton and gifted to Memorial at the end of the year.
Bottom photo: Millen is pictured with other members of the pharmacy team, prior to his passing. Pictured, top to bottom, left to right: Frank Krivanek, Clinical Pharmacist; Cindy Gu, IT Pharmacist; Nataliya Isakov, Clinical Pharmacist; Sharon Hellwarth, Pharmacy Technician; Shawna McIntire, Pharmacy Technician; Natalie Dilley, Pharmacy Technician; Erica Baker, Clinical Pharmacy Specialist – Oncology/SCC; Kevin Drewes, Clinical Pharmacist; Devyn Bollack, Pharmacy Financial Navigator; Mary Rohrs, Medication Therapy Navigator; Sarah Zimmerman, Pharmacy Technician; Leslie Yoder, Pharmacy Manager; Millen; and Craig Baker, PharmD, MBA, Director of Pharmacy.
Memorial Health has posthumously nominated Shawn Millen, CPhT, as their nominee for the 2024 Ohio Hospital Association’s (OHA) Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award. The award is presented annually to one Ohio healthcare employee who personifies leadership, reflects the mission and values of his or her organization, routinely performs work in an exemplary manner, and gives back to the community.
Millen, who passed away unexpectedly in October 2023 after a brief illness, was a Certified Pharmacy Technician/Purchasing Specialist at Memorial Hospital for the last 14 years. In his role, Millen had a passion to ensure Memorial had adequate supplies of medications and associated devices. During the COVID pandemic, hospital pharmacies across the nation were dealing with countless product shortages, recalls, and backorders. An optimist at heart, Millen knew he wanted to do his part. He dug deep into his networks, tapping into alternative sources and contacts, effectively securing what patients needed. So successful, he earned the nickname “Radar,” as he was able to track down nearly any item required by the Memorial Hospital team.
As noted in the nomination, Millen took great pride in his work, and even greater pride in building relationships with others, further contributing to his success in ensuring the pharmacy supply chain was supported. Outside of Memorial, Millen had a special affinity for ensuring the EMS teams serving local residents were well-stocked and ready for service. He would conduct regular checks of their medication supplies and make replacements immediately.
Millen’s impact did not go unnoticed, as members of the Allen Township Fire Department (Chief Steve Brose, Captain Neal Page, Lieutenant Ryan Heckel, Firefighter Jerry Branton, and Firefighter Don Thompson) recently delivered a beautifully, handcrafted memorial piece for Millen to the Memorial Hospital Pharmacy Department. Commenting on the tribute, Chief Brose says, “Shawn will be forever missed. Presenting this shows how much we value the relationships we form during the course of duty. Oftentimes we become close friends with folks we work with from other agencies. This is certainly the case with Shawn and many other members of the Memorial Pharmacy Department.”
