On September 16 & 17th, we’re bringing you two energizing days of in-person and virtual sessions designed to inspire fresh ideas, strengthen connections, and help us work smarter together. Through the lens of innovation, team member engagement, and operational excellence, we’ll explore creative solutions, build stronger relationships, and share practical strategies that empower you to thrive in your role and make an even greater impact on those we serve. Here, you’ll find everything you need—event details, speaker bios, agendas, and resources—to make the most of this experience. Because at Augusta Health, your growth fuels our mission.
Plan your Professional Development Day experience! Click here to view the full schedule of sessions, speakers, and events—so you can make the most of every moment.
Meet the voices behind Professional Development Day! Click here to explore our lineup of speakers, read their bios, and get inspired by the experience and passion they bring to each session.
From presentation slides to downloadable guides, this is your go-to spot for the tools, templates, and resources that will keep the learning going long after PD Day wraps up.
Join us on September 16 & 17, 2026 for two days of engaging learning experiences designed to help you grow, connect, and thrive. Explore sessions covering leadership, communication, technology, professional development, well-being, career growth, and innovation, all led by experts from Augusta Health and respected organizations across the industry.
Whether you're looking to sharpen your Microsoft Office skills, become a more effective leader, strengthen communication, explore AI and emerging technologies, gain new perspectives on change, or invest in your own professional growth, there's something for everyone. Build the schedule that fits your goals, learn from inspiring speakers, and make the most of your Professional Development Day experience.
Click on any class name below to view detailed information, including the session description, location, and click the link to enroll in HealthStream.
📍 EDU 210
👤 Facilitator: Kathy Hedges
📝Step into the world of Microsoft Excel with ease and confidence! This class is a hands-on, beginner-friendly session designed for teammates who’ve never used Excel before. This pre-101 class guides you through navigating worksheets, entering and editing data, formatting for clarity, saving your work, and understanding how Excel can make your daily tasks easier and more efficient. By the end of the session, you’ll leave with practical skills, real-world examples, and the confidence to start using Excel in your role. Bring your curiosity and your computer log-in credentials and get ready to unlock the power of Excel to empower your development!
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 ACC 3
👤 Facilitator: Dr. James Hebl, Mayo Clinic Network
📝Leading Transformational Change will be an interactive discussion of how to mobilize and lead teams through the discomfort, resistance and loss associated with transformational change. The session will focus on the core aspects of adaptive leadership, including the importance of distinguishing technical problems from adaptive challenges, getting on the balcony, managing resistance and uncertainty, maintaining focus, empowering teams, fostering psychological safety, and encouraging design innovation when creating solutions. Learners will walk away from the session appreciating that effective leadership requires courage, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and the ability to help people navigate discomfort while preserving the mission, vision and values of the organization.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 EDU 210
👤 Facilitator: Alisha Dakon
📝Ready for a transformative “how-to” of Microsoft Teams that focuses on communication, collaboration, and task management? This hands-on session is designed for educators, coordinators, managers, and leaders of a team, committee, program, or department. Attendees will participate in guided practice activities on several essential functionalities of MS Teams. After a quick walkthrough of the user interface and basic setting configurations, we’ll jump into real-time use cases in which you will: join a channel, chat with your classmates, upload a document to the channel’s files, co-edit a shared document while tracking changes / comments, and engage with a visual planner board to create and organize tasks. By the end of this class, you’ll feel more confident in navigating MS Teams and using its core features to help streamline and achieve your group’s initiatives!
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 ACC 1-2
👤 Facilitator: George Neighbors
📝Discover practical, evidence-based mindfulness techniques designed to help professionals reduce stress, improve focus and enhance overall well-being. Through guided exercises and interactive discussions, participants will learn strategies for increasing present-moment awareness, building resilience and responding to workplace challenges with greater clarity and intention. Attendees will leave with actionable tools that can be immediately applied both at work and in daily life.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 EDU 215
👤Brooke GIll
📝
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 EDU 216
👤 Facilitator: Richard Covington
📝 In this workshop, participants will learn best practices for giving and receiving both appreciative and constructive feedback by providing a solid understanding of the feedback process as well as a set of tools to help incorporate these skills into daily routines and reach desired outcomes.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍EDU 210
👤 Facilitator: Dr. Penny Cooper
📝 Turn complex data into clear, compelling stories by learning how to map flow with Sankey diagrams. Learn how data analytics can help you influence decisions, reduce confusion and boost your professional impact. Sharpen your analytical thinking, gain confidence presenting insights and create visuals that support better systems and environments. Walk away with practical skills and a sense of purpose in using data for meaningful change.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍Virtual via Teams
👤 Facilitator: John Barlow
📝 Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the way we work, helping us save time, process information more effectively, and focus on higher-value tasks. In this course, participants will discover how AI can be used as a practical office and research assistant. From summarizing lengthy documents to streamlining information searches and organizing data, AI offers accessible tools that support productivity and decision-making. This session will highlight real-world applications and provide a foundation for using AI responsibly and efficiently in everyday tasks.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 ACC 1-2
👤 Facilitator: George Neighbors
📝 Great leaders aren't born — they're built through practice, reflection, and the right tools. In this 2 hour seminar, we'll explore the 5 Behaviors & Elements of a high-performing team, sharpen your Communication and Motivation skills, and build intentional Touchpoints that keep your people engaged and growing. Walk away ready to lead with more confidence, consistency, and impact.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 EDU 210
👤 Facilitator: Kathy Hedges
📝 Microsoft Excel isn’t just rows and columns. It’s a tool that can make your day-to-day work faster, smarter and easier. Excel can help you get organized and save time. In this hands-on beginner class, you’ll learn the basic essentials to manage your data with confidence. You’ll practice with real-world examples so you can walk away ready to apply these skills immediately to your role. Come prepared with your computer logon credentials and get ready to build your Excel confidence! This is a 101-level class.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 Mannix
👤 Facilitator: Dr. Clint Merrit
📝 Every person plays a vital role in the patient experience, whether interacting directly with patients or supporting the work behind the scenes. Journey of Care: From Community to Community takes participants on the story of a patient's experience across the full continuum of care, from the moment health needs arise in the community through treatment, recovery and a return to everyday life. Through an engaging, interactive journey, participants will explore how collaboration, communication, compassion and coordinated care create seamless experiences that build trust, improve outcomes and strengthen connections with patients, families, colleagues and the communities we serve. Regardless of role or department, participants will gain a deeper appreciation for how their work influences the next step in the journey and contributes to a culture where every person feels valued, respected and supported.
Click HERE to enroll!
📍 ACC 1-2
👤 Facilitator: George Neighbors
📝 Most teams don't fail because of strategy — they fail because of how people treat each other under pressure. This seminar gives leaders practical, research-backed tools they can use the very next day.
When civility becomes a leadership practice, teams perform better, stay longer, and trust more.
Click HERE to enroll.
Click on any class name below to view detailed information, including the session description, location, and click the link to enroll in HealthStream.
📍 EDU 210
👤 Facilitator: Kathy Hedges
📝Step into the world of Microsoft Excel with ease and confidence! This class is a hands-on, beginner-friendly session designed for teammates who’ve never used Excel before. This pre-101 class guides you through navigating worksheets, entering and editing data, formatting for clarity, saving your work, and understanding how Excel can make your daily tasks easier and more efficient. By the end of the session, you’ll leave with practical skills, real-world examples, and the confidence to start using Excel in your role. Bring your curiosity and your computer log-in credentials and get ready to unlock the power of Excel to empower your development!
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 Mannix
👤 Facilitator: Phillip St. Ours and the Wellness team
📝Today’s workplace often rewards constant activity, but busy doesn’t always mean productive. This class challenges you to rethink how work gets done by exploring burnout prevention, healthier work rhythms and smarter meeting practices. You’ll learn practical ways to reduce stress, create intentional recovery moments and build habits that improve both wellbeing and performance. Work differently. Recover intentionally. Perform sustainably.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 ACC 1-2
👤 Facilitator: George Neighbors
📝Where situations find possibilities when we share ideas together.
Board of Ideas is a facilitated peer learning experience where one person briefly presents a real-world scenario seeking creative direction, strategic support or fresh perspective.
In rapid succession, peers contribute micro ideas, insights and questions to consider.
The person presenting scenario listens - without responding to each idea - in rapid succession, culminating in a list to consider, and sharing any takeaways from the experience. Led by a Coach who manages the process and outlines to all participants, this process honors curiosity over criticism and generosity over judgment. Come with 1-2 situations you might like to explore. We'll have time for 2-4 rounds total.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 Mannix
👤 Facilitator: Richard Covington
📝Based on the principles from Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, this interactive session explores how individuals and teams can drive meaningful and lasting change by influencing behaviors, habits, and outcomes. You’ll learn practical strategies for identifying crucial moments for change, leveraging sources of influence and creating environments that support accountability and sustained improvement. Through discussion and real-world application, you’ll gain tools to become more effective change agents within your teams and our organization.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 EDU 210
👤 Facilitator: Alisha Dakon
📝Ready for a transformative “how-to” of Microsoft Teams that focuses on communication, collaboration, and task management? This hands-on session is designed for educators, coordinators, managers, and leaders of a team, committee, program, or department. Attendees will participate in guided practice activities on several essential functionalities of MS Teams. After a quick walkthrough of the user interface and basic setting configurations, we’ll jump into real-time use cases in which you will: join a channel, chat with your classmates, upload a document to the channel’s files, co-edit a shared document while tracking changes / comments, and engage with a visual planner board to create and organize tasks. By the end of this class, you’ll feel more confident in navigating MS Teams and using its core features to help streamline and achieve your group’s initiatives!
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 EDU 215
👤 Facilitator: Kim Lee-Asonevich
📝This one hour session helps community hospital staff manage change that is designed by others but experienced on the unit. Participants will learn practical ways to make sense of new directives, manage reactions to uncertainty, communicate concerns constructively, and stay focused on patient care during transitions. The class emphasizes realistic strategies staff can use immediately to remain steady, professional, and engaged when change feels out of their control.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 ACC 1
👤 Facilitator: Brigitta Toruno
📝This interactive session introduces participants to the value of using simple Spanish greetings and everyday expressions to create welcoming interactions with Spanish-speaking patients, families, and visitors.
Designed for participants with little to no Spanish experience, the session combines basic conversational phrases with cultural awareness to build confidence and reinforce the importance of respectful, person-centered communication. The session emphasizes practical phrases that participants can begin using immediately while recognizing the importance of qualified interpreter services for medical communication.
Click HERE to enroll!
📍 ACC 2
👤 Facilitator: Dove Consulting
📝Based on Dove Development and Consulting's IMPACT Leadership Academy, this highly interactive session equips you with practical strategies for having candid, caring conversations that strengthen relationships, improve accountability and drive better results. Through engaging discussion, real-world examples and collaborative learning, you’ll explore the balance between honest feedback and empathy while gaining tools you immediately can apply within your teams. Rather than a traditional lecture, this session emphasizes reflection, small-group discussion and practical application to help you navigate difficult conversations with confidence and compassion.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 EDU 210
👤 Facilitator: Kathy Hedges
📝Want to make your ideas shine? Whether you’re sharing safety updates, presenting data or teaching new procedures, strong PowerPoint skills help you communicate clearly. In this fun, hands-on beginner class, you’ll learn the essentials of PowerPoint step by step. You’ll practice with real-world examples and walk away with skills you can use right away in your daily work. No prior PowerPoint experience required. Just bring your computer logon credentials, your curiosity and your creativity!
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 Virtual via Teams
👤 Facilitator: Steve Snyder
📝This interactive session introduces team members to Augusta Health’s comprehensive workforce development strategy. Team members will gain insight into the wide range of opportunities available to support their career growth — from tuition assistance and scholarship programs to mentorships, educational partnerships, and career pathways in high-demand healthcare and support roles. Through real-life success stories, staff will learn how colleagues have advanced their careers with the help of organizational programs, and discover how they, too, can take advantage of these resources. Whether you’re looking to start a new career journey, build on your current role, or get information about what Augusta Health has available to support your children’s career aspirations, this session will show you how Augusta Health is committed to investing in your future.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 EDU 215
👤 Facilitator: Jessica Martinkosky
📝This interactive session uses self‑drying clay as a hands‑on metaphor to explore how perspective shapes our responses to workplace challenges. Through guided reflection and discussion, staff will examine how viewing situations from different angles can strengthen communication, teamwork, and patient care.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 ACC 1
👤 Facilitator: Cindy Young
📝 Effective communication is dependent largely on how the message is delivered. Understanding and appreciating different delivery styles can lead to fewer communication misunderstandings and may reduce escalation of simple differences to more serious conflicts. This interactive workshop explores the DiSC model of human behavior as a tool to understand your personal style of communication, the value of other styles, and strategies to help improve relationships and outcomes through more effective communication.
Click HERE to enroll.
📍 Mannix
👤 Facilitator:
Kim Lee-Asonevich
📝Designed for supervisors and department leads, this session focuses on the unique role of middle management in driving and sustaining change while balancing frontline realities, regulatory/funding requirements and executive expectations.
Click HERE to enroll!
📍 EDU 210
👤 Facilitator: Alisha Dakon
📝eady to transform the raw data in your spreadsheets from chaos to clarity? Learn to leverage Microsoft Excel as a powerful tool that can help support data analytics and decision-making. This advanced-level session is designed for participants who already have a basic understanding of using Excel and are ready to take their skills to the next level. In this hands-on class, you’ll develop pivot tables, slicers, and conditional formatting rules to create an interactive report based on declassified HealthStream data that contains multiple assignments, departments, and jobs. The skills you will learn in this practical class can be applied to your own work to help elevate raw data into polished and informative reports!
Click HERE to enroll!
This year's Professional Development Day features an outstanding lineup of presenters from Augusta Health, the Mayo Clinic Care Network, Blue Ridge Community College, Dove Consulting, and other experts. Together, they will share practical insights, fresh perspectives, and real-world strategies to help you strengthen your leadership, expand your technical skills, navigate change, and continue growing both personally and professionally.
Whether you're looking to sharpen your skills, discover new ideas, or invest in your future, each session is designed to leave you with knowledge you can apply long after Professional Development Day ends.
HealthStream Admin & Instructional Designer, AH
HealthStream Admin & Instructional Designer, AH
CEO + Founder UNO Translations + Communications
CEO + Founder UNO Translations + Communications
Senior Program Manager, Alzheimer’s Association
Senior Program Manager, Alzheimer’s Association
Senior Org Development Consultant, Augusta Health
SVP & Chief Medical Officer, Augusta Health
SVP & Chief Medical Officer, Augusta Health
Change Management Consultant and Coach, X-Roads Advisory
Change Management Consultant and Coach, X-Roads Advisory
Medical Director, Leadership and Talent Dev., Mayo Clinic
Medical Director, Leadership and Talent Dev., Mayo Clinic
Educator, Blue Ridge Community College
Educator, Blue Ridge Community College
Workforce Solutions, Blue Ridge Community College
Workforce Solutions, Blue Ridge Community College
Organizational Development Consultant, Augusta Health
Educator, Blue Ridge Community College
Admin Director, Team Member Experience, Augusta Health
Admin Director, Team Member Experience, Augusta Health
Wellness Navigator, Population Health, Augusta Health
Wellness Navigator, Population Health, Augusta Health
Director, Workforce Development, Augusta Health
Dove Consulting; Authors, Thought Leaders and Trainers
Dove Consulting; Authors, Thought Leaders and Trainers
From presentation slides to downloadable guides, this is your go-to spot for the tools, templates, and resources that will keep the learning going long after PD Day wraps up.