Team Member Spotlight - Donna Langworthy
Donna Langworthy, a pivotal team member of Pfister Orthodontics since 1985
As we continue to enjoy the lower humidity and beautiful weather in Medina, the question of school starting and Fall sports is finally coming into focus after a significant amount of trepidation and uncertainty. The conversations with parents and patients has run the gamut from why on-line to why not shut everything down and everything in between…
But here at Pfister Orthodontics, we are hustling along getting everyone ready for Fall and celebrating our office’s 36-year anniversary. Last week, I began showcasing our staff one-by-one so you could become more familiar with our Team (especially in this world of social distancing). This week, I’d like to introduce Donna Langworthy, our front desk receptionist.
Meet Donna Langworthy
Donna was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Berea when she was seven. She is the oldest of five, with a younger sister and three younger brothers. She graduated from Berea High School and married the love of her life, Mark, and they have shared marital bliss for the past 37 years. They have two sons, Marc and Evan, and two stepsons, Jason and Jeremy (from Mark’s first marriage). They immensely enjoy their four grandchildren, Daniella, Norah, Nash, and Avalyn. But Frank, their long-haired dachshund, probably gets most of their daily affection. Their favorite vacay spot is composed of sandy beaches near water, either in Michigan or the Outer Banks. When she retires, Donna would like to see more of the U.S. Her favorite hobby is reading, and she belongs to a very aggressive book club!
Donna graduated from Polaris Vocational School in dental assisting and went to work for Dr. White, a restorative dentist, for seven years before coming to work in Medina with Dr. Geary, also a restorative dentist, for two years. Then, she answered our ad for an orthodontic assistant. As I stated last week, the first week in May 1985, I hired Connie. The next week, I hired Donna. They were both such great applicants whom I felt had just the right chemistry to build a practice. Never have I been so right!
Donna has been involved in every aspect of care delivery in our office, from chair-side to sterilizer and now, temperature and screener. Twenty years ago, she gravitated to the front desk and has been one of our sparkling voices on the phone ever since…
Let me give you some insights into how Donna makes our office run so efficiently.
What many people don’t know is that Donna is part Best Buy Geek Squad and part Apple/Armstrong IT person all in one. If the copier doesn’t work, Call Donna, scheduler won’t print, Call Donna, computer screen froze, Call Donna, do you see the power she has?! Donna pushes buttons, smacks towers, and gently kicks slow-moving electronic equipment and it always works! Darndest thing.
Another reason why Donna is so good at the front desk… she knows 89% of everyone living in Medina. The other 11% moved to Florida years ago! Donna can tell you about everyone in town, who is married to whom, who has died and how. If we don’t know someone, we just ask Donna. It makes it very easy. For the life of me, I don’t know why we get the Gazette!
Patient treatment planning has always been an interest of Donna’s. Several years ago, when we moved to Invisalign after trying several other competitors, Donna was our natural choice for our Invisalign treatment coordinator. She talks to offices in Costa Rica on a regular basis. Her Spanish is getting quite good, and keeps all the cases moving internationally through her electronic expertise. She attended several conferences with me last year and has attended classes to keep up with all the ever-changing updates. Aligner therapy is so defined and precise today that it takes one person in the office dedicated to just tracking cases.
Finally, Donna’s love of numbers and math created a position for her, as she morphed into the position of patient tracker - tracking our number of patients started per month ten years ago, to now tracking and graphing a dozen parameters of our practice growth monthly! Looking at her charts and graphs every month, I just have to remark, “When did you have time to do all the tabulations with everything else you do?”
As you can clearly see, Donna brings to our Team boundless energy and organization, along with her love for the patients and co-workers. When asked what has kept her here for all these years, she sates, “I have spent over half my life in this office and have seen many smiles and generations of families walk through the door. And with each smile we create goes a gift of love from me and our Team. I love working with our Team and I love the camaraderie we share. We are like one big family. I’ll truly miss it when I retire!”
Look for another team member spotlight next week and, until then, brush, floss, and rinse!
- Dr. Pfister