Marr-Smith Receives Rural Health Ambassador Award
[Dodgeville] During National Hospital Week, Wendy Marr-Smith received the Rural Health Ambassador Award. Marr-Smith is a Speech-Language Pathologist at Upland Hills Health (UHH) in Dodgeville. This award recognizes employees within Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative (RWHC) member hospitals who have gone above the call of duty promoting their respective organizations and making significant contributions to rural healthcare.
Marr-Smith has made a significant contribution to the southwest corner of Wisconsin through the course of her career. For many years, she was the only Speech-Language Pathologist providing services to a very diverse and widespread community. Wendy has helped patients and families, and she has helped educate area healthcare providers on communication, cognition and swallowing issues. She was instrumental in establishing speech-language pathology services in local school districts and the Iowa/Grant Birth to Three program. She has also generously supervised graduate students, introducing them to the rural healthcare model. This helped introduce area universities to the unique diversity of rural healthcare.
By participating in the Rural Wisconsin Hospital Cooperative’s roundtables, Marr-Smith has made an impact on a national level. She participated in the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) data collection in the year 2000 for NOMS, the National Outcome Measurement System. This system is currently in use in today’s practice.
In response to receiving the award, Marr-Smith expressed, “As I reflect on the past 24 years as a speech-language pathologist at Upland Hills Health, I feel very privileged to be part of such a well-respected facility that has provided excellent care to the residents of Iowa County and surrounding areas. I am also very thankful to have the support of RWHC. The many resources provided by RWHC have allowed Upland Hills Health to provide continued quality care for our patients.”
