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Spotlight on Paula Owen, Medical Records Professional in Dayton

She’s Wired for Details and Compliance

Paula Owen celebrated her third anniversary with Crossroads in 2025. The way she tells it, she has found her professional “forever home.” Coincidentally, the seasoned medical records professional had just moved in across the street from the Crossroads Dayton offices when she accepted the medical records position.

To be closer to home to oversee the care of her now 94-year-old dear mother, Paula relocated back to the Dayton area from Pensacola, Florida, where she now maintains a second home. As the youngest of four children, with her siblings 10, 13 and 14 years older, Paula said she was always expected to step in to a caregiver role, which she now refers to as “God’s plan.”

Paula left her position at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola and applied for and got a position with another healthcare provider in Dayton but she already knew during the “very stressful onboarding process” that it wasn’t a good fit.

She went online and saw that Crossroads in Dayton was recruiting for a medical records position. Paula applied and the love fest began when she was “hired two days later on the spot.”

Paula is There for Families

Showing her true Crossroads green, Paula said through her diligence, in her own way, she is “being part of a patient’s journey,” always driving to make sure the family is satisfied. Paula said, “I handle death certificates. It’s a very stressful time for families.”

At Crossroads in Dayton Paula appreciates the supportive team spirit and how Crossroads leaders recognize that it’s “important to have a purpose and to be fulfilled with your job.” She said, “If you don’t feel good, you can’t be positive.”

Paula’s positivity fills the room. Her energy level is high. And when Paula’s not on the job you’ll find her making jewelry, working on small furniture pieces, cutting, shaping and polishing stones, a craft known as lapidary or working with polymer clay to name a few of her crafting artistic pursuits.

Crossroads is lucky to have Paula setting the highest standards for medical records operations and compliance in Dayton. Fortunately, she has no plans to retire from her “forever home” any time soon.

And the winners are…

The Emerald Awards were created to recognize the contributions of staff members who go the extra mile and YOU determined who was most deserving of them.

Most Recognized Colleague award is given to the Green Team member who continuously receives praise from teammates and management.

Elizabeth Wiles – Cincinnati
Claudia Valderrama – Cleveland
Faith Richardson – Dayton
Christopher Springfield – Memphis
Mike Burkhardt – Northeast Ohio

Team Player award is given to the Green Team member who is always willing to provide support and recognizes the contributions of others.

Kristina Wilson – Cincinnati
Debra Wagner – Cleveland
Tania Abraham – Dayton
Christopher Springfield – Memphis

Exceptional Listener award is given to the Green Team member who actively listens to colleagues and managers and solicits feedback.

Amanda Lester – Cincinnati
Nicholas Fenell – Cleveland
Tania Abraham – Dayton
Christopher Springfield – Memphis
Connie Shy – Northeast Ohio

Mentorship award is given to the Green Team member who encourages others to reach their goals and lead by example.

Kristina Wilson – Cincinnati
Samuel Lockhart – Cleveland
Malita Williams – Dayton
Jerwin Johnson – Memphis
Kenna Peterson – Northeast Ohio

Recognition Master award is given to the Green Team member who recognizes teammates most often.

Kristina Wilson – Cincinnati
Amanda Lester – Cincinnati
Nicholas Fenell – Cleveland
Tania Abraham – Dayton
Malita Williams – Dayton
Christopher Springfield – Memphis
Jessica Marple – Northeast Ohio

Congratulations to all of the winners! Thank you to everyone who participated.

Moments That Test Us

The moments that test us are the best lens we have for seeing who we really are. They act as powerful tools for self-reflection, that is if we really care about being the best versions of ourselves, personally and collectively. 

Easy jobs are usually boring jobs. The nature of standing out, delivering value, and feeling good about our contributions comes when we're most challenged - personally and together. Struggle and thriving aren't opposites. They go together.

You all know this better than most people. It's the insight at the heart of what Crossroads does every day. Death is the instrument that makes life more meaningful. Knowing our time is limited makes our choices harder and demands our presence. And that’s where we learn about our own qualities. Some might consider this fact of life a burden. But if we look at it with a closer lens it’s actually the source of growth and learning about ourselves. And this year, Crossroads got to learn it about itself.

This year tested. I don't need to tell you that - you lived it.

When I started meeting with everyone in July, I came to listen. Even though myself and my team had worked with leaders at Crossroads, I dropped all my presumptions. I visited each location, sat with people at every level, and asked questions. Not that I had answers, but because the answers are almost always already there. They just needed someone to hear them.

What I heard was, and almost always is a communication problem. Communication was broken in places. There were frustration, exhaustion, and real doubt about whether things could change. But underneath all of that, I heard something else: people who cared deeply about this work, about each other and about the promise of Crossroads. 

Every company gets challenged. Challenged to its core and has to ask real questions of itself. This is the first step in any transformation process. It's also what people hire me to do. Personal transformation, organizational transformation. While the word transformation is thrown around a lot today - it's not always what people think it is. At the heart of transformation is self-authorship.

Self-authorship means choosing who you want to be rather than letting circumstances decide for you. It's the difference between reacting to what happens and responding from a clear sense of purpose. Organizations can do this just like individuals can. But it requires people working to make things better, speak up and listen to absorb. 

That process started at Crossroads this year. Not finished - started. The communication channels we've opened, the conversations we've had, the willingness to look clearly at what wasn't working - that's the foundation. These early conversations are never perfect, a bit messy, but the most important. They are raw material where flourishing begins. 

What gets built on it is up to you.

Nobody knows what 2026 will bring. But you're not the same organization you were six months ago. You faced hard things honestly. You listened to each other. You stayed. So, the question isn't whether you're ready for what comes next. The question is: What kind of Crossroads do you want to create together?

The families who need Crossroads are still out there. The mission hasn't changed. And now you know something about yourselves that you can carry into whatever comes next.

I'm looking forward to digging in with you and seeing what can be done!