Ronald F. Kruse | Chief Operating Officer
Lone Star Communications, Houston
(d) 281-846-7352
(c) 817-739-5106
March 30 Weekly
WELCOME
Adrianna Felan joined us as Receptionist/AR on Monday 3/28. She will report to Marissa Cerna. Welcome Adrianna!
WEDNESDAY PIZZA TIME
3/30/33 - 5th Wednesday Pizza Party and Violeta's birthday!
Starts around 16:30 -- We have 20 staying for pizza.
BYOB. We will have the 1877 mineral water.
We have pizza from Russo's, Lou Malnati's and Papa Murphy's.
Thin crust won the day, but we have both.
NEW WORK
Aaron Reyna - New Project 4248 Baylor College of Medicine Fannin Tower Level 20 Nurse Call [Linbeck]
HR ROAD SHOW
Ramona Rook and Trey Meador will be in Houston on May 4th 9:00 a.m. – Noon
FUTURE APRIL
April 8, 2022 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Trends.
This three-hour discussion will be facilitated by Kevin Henderson and discussion breakout leaders will be Marquis Woodard and Donna Montgomery.
Marissa Cerna
Monique Dow
Nicole Flores
Brian Manibo
Leo Martinez
Gregory Propps
Erik Rosas
Nelson Saldivar
Gabe Sanchez
Gus Torres
Regina Wysocki
Yessenia Zamora
March 23 Weekly
EOM
March Employee of the Month Voting is Open 3/23 to 3/29
Survey Monkey Link; https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2SBN3FY
MARCH CALENDAR
3/24/22 - Virtual Town Hall Meeting @ 14:30
3/30/33 - 5th Wednesday Pizza Party @ 16:30 - BYOB
NEW WORK
Greg Propps - MAC Project 4227 BS&W Outpatient Rehab @ Arrington [The Trevino Group]
Greg Propps - Project 4228 - St. Joseph Med Center - MJG Ground Floor ED Addition [DPR Construction Inc.]
Cliff Switzer - MAC Project 4229 - WellMed @ Clear Lake [The Casas Group, LLC]
Aaron Reyna - MAC Project 4234 – Townsen Memorial Imaging Spring (Cornell System)
Aaron Reyna - MAC Project 4235 - Townsen Memorial Imaging Medical Center (Cornell System)
FUTURE APRIL
April 8, 2022 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Trends.
This three-hour discussion will be facilitated by Kevin Henderson and discussion breakout leaders will be Marquis Woodard and Donna Montgomery.
Marissa Cerna
Monique Dow
Nicole Flores
Brian Manibo
Leo Martinez
Gregory Propps
Erik Rosas
Nelson Saldivar
Gabe Sanchez
Debra Sandoval
Gus Torres
Regina Wysocki
Yessenia Zamora
FUTURE MAY
May 14 - Motorcycle Rally Nacogdoches
May - TBD
The planning has started for the 2022 Houston Awards Dinner for a weekday evening in May. This will be a small group as we did last year. Can't wait!
25 years - Cliff Switzer
20 Years - Jamie Selman
15 Years - Gregory Propps, Marissa Cerna
10 Years – Hector Reyes, Jeovanny Alvarenga
5 Years - Juan Castillo, Rene Sandoval, Monique Dow, Jonathan Pennington
March 17 Weekly
5th WEDNESDAY PIZZA PARTY
With everyone running in different directions, we don't get together very often. The last large gathering was June 12, 2021 for our 30th anniversary.
For a fun get-together, we will have a 5th Wednesday pizza on March 30th, 2022 @16:30 - 19:30. This will only happen a few times per year.
I will cook some pizzas in the brick oven. Thanks to Jamie Selman for a great idea.
Bring a portable camp chair and BYOB (I'll have the pizzas and the sodas). The link from the picture (above) will take you to a doc where you can tell your pizza preference so I can attempt to have enough on hand.
Other 5th Wednesdays in 2022 are June 29th, August 31st, and November 30th.
SECOND WEDNESDAY ROUNDTABLE COFFEE (Monthly)
I have reserved the Command Central conference room from for a Roundtable Coffee on the following dates;
April 6 (Due to Scheduling conflict on 4/13) 12:00 - 13:30
May 11 16:00 - 17:00
June 8 12:00 - 13:30
July 13 16:00 - 17:00
August 10 12:00 - 13:30 (Thanks Marquis)
September 14 16:00 - 17:00
October 12 12:00 - 13:30
November 9 16:00 - 17:00
I have sent out invites for the convenience of those that need to place it on their calendar. Optional.
This is an open forum to come and go as you please with the opportunity to discuss current events, Critical Numbers, Career Ladder, Emplify Survey results, and upcoming policy changes. Also, we can look at the Vision Summary Boards, the Flywheel, and how it pertains to you in a roundtable discussion atmosphere. Every other date has an afternoon time slot to give our technicians a chance to get in on the discussion assuming they can't be here mid-day. The discussion on 3/9 had some participants snacking and drinking some Topo Chico.
Below is and example of some of the discussion from the roundtable on February 11 with Shawna, Monique, Julie, Andrew, Marissa, Hector, Regina and Joel. The discussion around one Emplify survey comment.
Emplify Comment
LEADER INTEGRITY - “The new COVID policy is understandable, however the explanation released on Tuesday, 1/4/2022, was profound given the fact that employee(s) have been terminated or laid off due to non-compliance of getting vaccinated. I was quiet surprised that we have long time employees still working that have not been vaccinated as per the policy. The employees that complied immediately, which they may not have agreed with the policy or wanted the vaccine, followed the requirement whereas others have stood firm by either refusing or not getting the vaccine but they are still working. How are these employees still working for LSC without being vaccinated when others have lost their jobs?”
If you look at the COVID-19 policy from June 16, 2021 as well as the updated policy issued in the fall of 2021, you will see that the language says customer-facing employee. There were roles in the organization that were non-customer contact and some of those people did not get vaccinated. Those persons were in compliance with the policy at that time. Keep in mind that there is also the possibility of a medical or religious exemption. I cannot speak to how many people may have been issued an exemption. No exemption was sought in the Houston office. Our one layoff unfortunately was a customer-facing employee that was not reassigned to a behind the scenes role. - Ron Kruse
NEW WORK
Julie Fischer - New Project P4206 HPH 1st Floor Imaging / Admin Expansion [Ti Constructors] - Justo Garza
Jamie Chapa - MAC Project 4208 Kelsey Seybold Spring [Gamma Construction]
MARCH CALENDAR
3/22/22 - Scaling-Up Class with Mark Fenner in Grand Prairie
3/24/22 - Virtual Town Hall Meeting @ 14:30
3/30/33 - 5th Wednesday Pizza Party @ 16:30
March 9 Weekly
SHOUT OUT & INFORMATION LINK
Thanks to Joel Orellana for bringing to my attention that job postings may not be seen easily by all.
This job board is updated weekly by Alatrae Pruitt. I will put the link in the April newsletter as well.
We had a chance to award Cris Ortega with his employee of the month coin and swag during the first Monday safety meeting on 3/7. Those sure were some great comments from his coworkers. Mic Drop.
NEW WORK
Aaron Reyna- New Project 4202 Brookdale Willowbrook Place Skilled Nursing [Brookdale Senior Living Inc.] -
Julie Fischer - New Project 4203 The Woman’s Hospital of Texas ICU The Woman’s Hospital of Texas ICU [HCAH Gulf Coast Division]
FIFTH WEDNESDAY?
There are four months that have five Wednesdays remaining this year.
Jamie Selman said that when he worked at the Hospice, they would have pizza and beer dinner on each fifth Wednesday evening and just hang out. It sounded pretty cool to me. I am thinking this would be fun for all of us to get together once in a while. Drop me a line and tell me what you think.
Wednesday, March 30th, 2022
Wednesday, June 29th, 2022
Wednesday, August 31st, 2022
Wednesday, November 30th, 2022
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
I am now registered for the University of Houston Electronic Technician online training program. It consists of 24 modules of interactive curriculum using text, video, audio, 2D and 3D animations and laboratory simulation software.
I decided to take the program to both see what Javier Solis is doing on the career ladder and to see first hand the quality of this online program. Tonight is my first official study time and the preliminary glance at the material looks good so far. I'll keep you posted.
- Ron
MARCH CALENDAR
3/9/22 - Second Wednesday Roundtable Vision Discussion @ 16:00 (alternates monthly between 12:00 -13:00 and 16:00 - 17:00). If you are interested, then drop me a note so I can know how many or if anyone will be there.
3/16/22 - Hump Day Lunch - LSCH Break Room - Jimmy John's @ 12:00
Turkey Tom has the lead.
Julie Fischer will have an Icebreaker
3/22/22 - Scaling-Up Class with Mark Fenner in Grand Prairie
3/24/22 - Virtual Town Hall Meeting @ 14:30
March 2 Weekly
CHITTER CHATTER
Following the first Monday safety meeting March 7 at 4210 South Drive, I will have the Command Central conference room setup for a general meeting. 3:45 to 5:00.
This meeting is not mandatory.
The purpose for this general meeting is for me to discuss a email sent last November by an unhappy former employee in our Grand Prairie office.
Why now? Because I have had two people asked about it, so I know there are more people that want to know. I have not commented up until now, not because I am hiding anything, but because I generally do not swing at pitches thrown in the dirt.
I will give a statement and open-up the floor for questions. This meeting will not have a video conference uplink, so it will only be in person.
Afterward, I will have the fish bowl office reserved for an hour or two for anybody who feels like they need to talk to me on a personal level.
- Ron Kruse
SHOUT OUT
Regina Wysocki - Thanks for the graphics on the Shout Out Board!
Our Team working together on the Houston Methodist Innovation Lab. Lone Star Communications Houston making it happen! Go Team Go!!!! - By Julie Fischer
Erik Canizales, Cliff Switzer, Marquis Woodard, Joel Orellana and Julie Fischer
Click on the picture for the newsletter blog.
NEW WORK
Julie Fischer - New Project 4194 HCAH Pearland Cath Lab Renovation [Endurance Builders, LLC]
Cliff Switzer - New Project 4195 - UTMB League City 2nd Floor OR Rooms [UTMB]
MARCH CALENDAR
3/7/22 - First Monday Safety Meeting @15:00
3/7/22 - First Monday General Meeting (Optional) @15:45
3/9/22 - Second Wednesday Roundtable Vision Discussion @ 16:00 (alternates monthly between 12:00 -13:00 and 16:00 - 17:00)
3/16/22 - Hump Day Lunch - LSCH Break Room - Jimmy John's @ 12:00
Julie Fischer - Icebreaker
3/22/22 - Scaling-Up Class with Mark Fenner in Grand Prairie
3/24/22 - Virtual Town Hall Meeting @ 14:30