2020 Peak Performance Staff award recipient Ronna Richardson-Lozano

The School of Dentistry is excited to announce that this year's Peak Performance Staff Award recipient is Ronna Richardson-Lozano.

Chosen for both fostering an environment and culture of innovation, and team player categories, Ronna works tirelessly as the IPC coordinator to ensure a safe working environment for all of the school's staff, students and patients.

She's done this even more so during these unprecedented times.

"Ronna has done a Herculean effort this year. She started preparing for the pandemic before anyone thought there was a need for that," says assistant professor and IPC Officer, Khaled Altabtbaei, who is one of many co-nominators for this award. "She undertook making the return to work course pretty much by herself, and has started doing contact tracing properly before the rest of the university had started doing that. This made opening the clinic after the March closure safer and the staff and students more prepared."

The Peak Performance award recognizes individuals who motivate people to do their best; create a sense of pride; establish equality; and improve quality of work life.

For Trudy Aucoin, Ronna does exactly that - every single day.

"Words cannot express how grateful we are to Ronna for making our work environment safe for our patients, students and our dental and dental hygiene teams. She has worked very hard to organize, maintain and manage the clinics," says Aucoin, associate clinical professor and DDS Comprehensive Care Director at the school. "She has developed policies and protocols to improve the standard of care in our program and she was instrumental in assessing the COVID pandemic risk, managing the ever- changing situation and planning for our return to work."

Ronna has been the nurse and IPC coordinator at the school since 2012, and has played an integral role in establishing the IPC program, especially during the COVID-19 crisis. She serves as a mentor and coach to staff and students in all of the various clinics within our program. 

Associate professor Reena Talwar-Povoledo echoes these sentiments. Her commitment to the workplace is next to none.

"Ronna is one of the most dedicated individuals I have met.  Whether it's for her family or her workplace, she gives 100 % of her energy everyday. I feel safer at work knowing that Ronna and the IPC team at the school are focused on protecting our patients, students, staff and faculty," she says. 

Congratulations Ronna, on this very deserving award! The school is proud to have you on our team.