The Ohio Hospital Association (OHA) recently honored all of its nominees for the Albert E. Dyckes Healthcare Worker of the Year Award. The Healthcare Worker of the Year award is given to one Ohio caregiver each year. This individual personifies a leader who gives back to the community, routinely goes beyond the call of duty and has overcome odds to succeed. The nominees for this award were honored at the OHA Recognition Banquet on June 9th at the Columbus Hilton at Easton.
Eric Charlton, Director of Diagnostic Imaging, was recognized as Wilson Memorial’s 2015 Healthcare Worker of the Year nominee. Charlton joined Wilson Memorial with more than 14 years of experience in the healthcare industry. Charlton leads his department with a hands-on leadership style has allowed his team members to be engaged in key decision making processes. Charlton believes that involving others in these decisions encourages career development and further engagement.
“Eric’s leadership style is a combination of strategy and character,” Jamie Westfall, VP of Outpatient Services, said. “His ability to see the big picture for the hospital organization, yet integrate himself amongst his peers is truly a unique quality.”
When Charlton leaves the hospital, his successful leadership does not stop at the door. His “off the clock” persona has led him to be named the multifaceted candidate to represent Wilson Memorial as this year’s Healthcare Worker of the Year nominee.
In his personal life, Charlton’s acts of leadership create his selfless demeanor and an evident sense of servitude. Charlton is the founder and Executive Director of the Amiri Project in Dayton, Ohio. Charlton established the Amiri Project to provide healthy lifestyle awareness and education to young African American males between the ages of 12 and 18. The goal of the Amiri Project is to empower their targeted group by broadening their knowledge base of healthcare professions and careers. Charlton grew up without a mentor of his own and by seeing so many young men without mentors today, he felt compelled to make a change. Now, he leads a group of teens and young adults by mentoring and providing hands-on experiences to expose them to a world that they might not have otherwise seen. As the men navigate to the years beyond high school, Charlton reaches out to them and then continues to follow them on their path of discovery.
Charlton is an inspiration for present and future generations to come, not only by his work in the hospital, but also by serving others and epitomizing the ideology of giving back to the community. This has qualified him to represent Wilson Memorial as this year’s candidate for Healthcare Worker of the Year.
Charlton’s success as a leader can be summed up with his particular leadership strategy. “I believe that before you are a leader, success is about growing yourself and when you become a leader, success is about growing others,” Charlton said.
Eric graduated from Wilberforce University. He previously worked as a traveling Diagnostic Imaging Technologist for Medical Contracting Services in Dallas, Texas and as the CAT Scan Lead/Staff Technologist at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton. Prior to joining the staff at Wilson, he served as the Regional Operations Manager at the Providence Medical Group in Dayton. Eric and his wife have two biological children and have also adopted five of their nieces and nephews.