Jensen uses hospital ties to aid community's needs

FREMONT – Pam Jensen has come full circle. She was born in Fremont, grew up in Port Clinton, and then returned to work in Fremont as the president of ProMedica Memorial Hospital. Her mother likes to tell her she is not surprised.

"I was born right here at Memorial, and now I'm back," Jensen said. "My mom likes to say she knew, when I was born, that I'd end up here."

Jensen oversees the daily operations of the hospital, but because ProMedica is a nonprofit organization, she also has the opportunity to reach deeper into the community's needs. Most recently she has done so by helping Sandusky County Share and Care Center with the upcoming transition to a new and better building.

ProMedica's mission is to improve the health and well-being of local residents, so partnering with Share and Care – a community thrift shop that also provides emergency help for those in need – was a logical choice.

The connection between ProMedica and Share and Care began when community leaders, including Jensen, joined together a couple of years ago to search for ways to help the underprivileged in the community. During the meeting, attendees were told that a building had been donated to Share and Care, but they needed assistance to make the move.

"We said we can do something about this," Jensen said. "We met with Lynette Kirsch (Share and Care director) and asked, 'How can ProMedica help?'"

Jensen and Chasity O'Neill, ProMedica director of marketing, helped by providing a valuable resource – connections. The women pulled in potential partners from within the county.

"Chasity and I donated our time and expertise to bring in other community leaders to achieve the financial goals Lynette needed to start the project. We did some pro bono legal work for them and helped them apply to the ProMedica Foundation for grant money," Jensen said. "We, of course, got really excited."

So did Kirsch.

"Pam and Chasity heard about the project, and pretty much, they've been in charge of raising all the money for it," Kirsch said. "We're a small nonprofit, and we didn't have the skills or the manpower. They came in and said, 'Let us help you with this,' and have been very successful."

Kirsch is very grateful for their help.

"They are incredible people to work with. Both of them have great hearts, community-minded hearts," Kirsch said. "I've been very impressed."

Being a native of Port Clinton, Jensen is familiar with the Heineman building which houses the Seed Faith Food Pantry and the Portage Resale Center – a thrift shop which helps fund dozens of local nonprofit organizations. Jensen envisions Share and Care as Fremont's Heineman building. She hopes its reach within the community will one day broaden to help even more Sandusky County residents.

"This is our long-term vision," she said.

For now, Jensen is happy to keep the Share and Care project moving forward, and she is always looking for other ways to help in the community, including volunteering with other ProMedica staff at Pontifex each year. She said she is often thanked for her employees' volunteer efforts in the county.

"(CEO) Randy Oostra is a very mission and community-oriented leader, and he encourages us to be mission-oriented," she said. "It feels good to know community leaders can count on us."

Having a passion for the community is easy, because Jensen said she has lived within 15 miles of Fremont her entire life. Today, she lives in Oak Harbor but still keeps a condominium in her hometown of Port Clinton for summer getaways.

"Port Clinton was a little different (when I was growing up) than it is now. It had more industry, and now it's more of a tourist town. It has really changed a lot. My husband and I talk about that when we walk there," she said. "I grew up in the country and spent my summers at the lake. I really always felt lucky that we grew up by the lake."

As president of ProMedica Hospital, Jensen focuses on helping employees create a great experience for patients from the time they arrive to the time they leave.

"I tell them we're not allowed to have a bad day, because the people that come in our doors are having a worse day," she said. "If a patient has a good experience, and then the person wheeling them out the door has a bad day, we've blown it. Building a culture of amazing is what we're working toward."