LARNED — The Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility has selected Employees of the Quarter for the third quarter — Jordanne Lemuz, uniformed, COII; Rusty Brown, non-uniformed, CDRP counselor; and Cynthia Gore, contract, mental health administrative assistant.
Jordanne Lemuz, uniformed employee of the quarter, began her career with the KDOC in April 2014. She was promoted to sergeant Jan. 31. Lemuz was the Rookie of the Year 2015 for LCMHF and has recently joined the special operations tactical team. She works the morning shift as the segregation officer in charge.
“Sgt. Lemuz is always smiling,” her nomination read. “She is calm on the radio — which is a gift. She is very good with conducting on-the-job training of new staff. She is approachable with questions and when staff needs a boost of energy or a vote of confidence; she is there to do so.
“She’s always got positive things to say, even at the end of her day. She is willing to work over and when things happen to make her four hours of overtime turn into five hours, she is “Ok” with that. COII Lemuz in on the path to be a bright shining star for LCMHF.”
Lemuz resides in Larned and graduated from Hays High School. She earned her CNA/CMA at Fort Hays State University. Lemuz and her fiancé Jake are raising two sons and three daughters which keep them busy.
Lemuz tries out new recipes and gets in game time playing Call of Duty on the PS4. Spending time with her family includes music and dancing with the children along with grilling outdoors.
Rusty Brown, non-uniformed employee of the quarter, started working at LCMHF as a corrections officer in October 2007. He was promoted to corrections counselor I at the chemical dependency recovery program in June 2008. He coached baseball for five years at Kansas Wesleyan University and Bethany College.
“Rusty goes above-and-beyond on several occasions for several inmates,” his nomination read. “He takes extra time to make arrangements for post-release plans. Most recently, he assisted with phone calls to help a long-term inmate to make arrangements for safe living that the parole board would accept.
“He was also working with another individual who was releasing from CDRP and prison. He faced a three-day weekend in a homeless shelter before admittance to another facility. This would not have been good placement as he would have been in his old neighborhood. Rusty worked with him and others to gain another option so that he could stay in a safer place for those three days. In this same case he was very involved in helping him with communication with his daughter who had recently been removed and placed in state custody.
“Rusty is always upbeat and easy to work with. He is always willing to step up and cover gaps in services. He has the best interest of CDRP, DOC and participants in mind at all times.”
Brown is from Larned, graduating from Larned High School in 1999. He earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education and recreation at Bethany College after earning an associate degree from Barton Community College in 2002. He earned his license in addiction counseling in 2010.
Rusty and his wife Erica are parents to three children — Lylee, 4, Shay, 2, and Kalvin, 1. His parents, David and Patricia Brown, both work at LCMHF.
Away from the facility he enjoys spending time with his family and likes to cook, play fantasy football, watch the Kansas City Royals, San Diego Chargers and the University of Colorado football and basketball teams.
Brown has coached baseball for the past 17 years, bringing the sport to children from 3 to 19. In 2007, his teams won the Kansas National Baseball Congress state championship. In 2008, the Larned American Legion team placed third at Class AA state and fourth in the Central Plains Regional. Brown is a representative for the Concerns of Police Survivors Organization in Kansas.
Cynthia Gore, contract employee of the quarter, is the administrative assistant for Corizon Mental Health after starting with Corizon in January 2016. She has worked for a family business in Great Bend and ran a Wichita Braum’s and Larned Caseys.
“Since coming to our facility she has been more than willing to jump in on tasks,” her nomination read. “She catches on to new tasks quickly. She is always friendly with staff and inmates. She has helped on many projects for mental health and suggested alternative ideas for situations needing solutions. She is hard working and is a team player.
“Recently she has been a huge help on creating yellow folders and the activity blue folders as well. She goes beyond what is expected of her.
A second nomination read, “Cynthia is known for her upbeat and happy attitude. She is dependable and very hard-working. Her computer skills and attention to detail has been a tremendous help. Cynthia is always willing to help out when needed and is quick to step up and volunteer to assist in whatever way possible.
“Not only does she do a great job, she helps the rest of us in the department do a great job by helping put together offender folders, keeping the MH restrictive housing logs and treatment team lists up to date, sorting, scanning and filing documents and having the offenders intake and transfer paperwork put all together for the mental health professionals and Dr. Dr. Emmanuel Okeke.
“She stays on top of our schedules and trainings. Because Cynthia goes the extra mile and is dedicated and reliable, she is a great example of a person worthy of the employee of the quarter nomination.
Gore is a Great Bend High graduate who earned an associate degree in applied science from Barton Community College, and earned a network specialist certificate in 2014.
Gore and her husband Wayne are parents to a son Owen, 5. She loves to travel and go 4-wheeling. She enjoys time with her family and watching baseball (Go Yankees!) Gore’s other interest include watching Netflix and playing with Owen and the dogs, Pepper and Sparky.