Terry Lerash Reflects Back on Nearly 50 Years in Healthcare
right where the front door of our Bad Axe facility is today. That’s pretty crazy to think about.” When asked what his most proud achievement was during his tenure at Scheurer, Terry struggled to come up with a single item, but instead a principle: quality. “Quality is essential for every- thing else. It drives everything. We make every decision based on quality – ‘does it provide better health? and does it provide better life?’ That obviously is also our vision, ‘Better Health. Better Life..’ It’s all part of the same mission and it’s the very first guiding value that’s been in place here for 30 years and that is ‘quality first.’” It is one thing to have that mindset and talk the talk; it is another to actually walk the walk. After studying the organization for a year, Terry implemented a five-year strategic plan, which has been completed with great success, despite even a global pandemic thrown into the middle of it. So many of the items have been accomplished that a new strategic plan has recently been rolled out for the next five years at Scheurer. “The fact that so many items have been checked off and achieved at such a high level of success really goes to show how great of a team we have assembled here. From top to the bottom and back to the top – a great team. By having that caliber of the team in place and all aligned by the strategic plan… that is a large reason why we
were able to get through Covid with such success.” COVID-19 has accelerated a lot of change and transformation inside of healthcare, one that Terry believes Scheurer is well- equipped and prepared for. “We’re the first to do a lot of things in our communities and we have to continue to do that. It is our goal to stay on the cutting edge of healthcare. Technology is going to play a large role in that, and we are positioned extremely well to do some really cool things because of our capabilities here in the Thumb.” Now, nearly 50 years after becoming a medical corpsman in the Army, Terry is riding off into the retirement sunset. He has overseen a constant chapter of growth at Scheurer and plans to enjoy retirement, but not rest on his laurels for too long.
major decisions in my first year of retirement. Get settled and just get used to retirement. But I’m going to discover a new purpose – golfing, grandkids and traveling can only fill so much of my time. My wife, Carmen, and I have been talking actually about doing some missionary work. We’re already exploring medical teams that are going over to Poland to serve the Ukrainian refugees. Poland’s health system is having a tough time with such a huge influx of people. That’s the beauty of retirement, we have the opportunity to help out when and where we can.” “What I’m going to miss the most is the interaction with the people. Our team here at Scheurer. I want to thank our community for their trust in Scheurer, their trust in me, and their continued loyalty to an organization that is here to serve them.”
“I’m not going to make any
Terry Lerash is looking forward to being able to kick his feet up and enjoy retirement, but not for long.
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