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I am Penn State Health: Laura Bjanes

With five children, several of whom have rare diseases, Laura Bjanes knows how overwhelming it can be to wait for answers and how important it is to feel personally known and cared for by medical providers.

The Lititz resident translates that firsthand knowledge into compassion at her job as a medical office associate at Penn State Health Medical Group – Cornerstone.

“I’ll smile and think, ‘I was that person, pushing on the phone for answers,’” Bjanes said. “I remember what it was like to be desperate, hurting, frightened, frustrated – and that drives me to go the extra mile for our patients.”

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I Am Penn State Health - Laura Bjanes

This is the Best Part of Working at Penn State Health

I love the patients and the relationships we build over time. We try to create a welcoming atmosphere, no matter if you’ve been here two weeks or two years, and I hope a sense of belonging comes through.

 What I Bring to My Job

I like to empower people to learn and do, whether it’s my five kids when I was homeschooling or my co-workers now. Here, they have allowed me to find my niche in creating tools and resources that make our jobs easier.

 Favorite Project

I developed an online filing manual that we all use. It’s a 33-page document that includes an index of 225 different documents we work with and instructions on what to do with them.

 How I Spend my Free Time

Our kids are grown now and living in four different states, so we travel a lot to visit them. I also love to hike, sail and camp.

 Surprise!

I majored in software engineering and worked as a robotics engineer in Norway, where my husband is from, and I speak Norwegian fluently – something there isn’t a lot of call for in central Pennsylvania!

Three Things I Can’t Live Without

  1. Family – especially my husband of 33 years and best friend
  2. Faith
  3. Technology – it keeps us close to our kids and to family across the ocean

 What Others Say About Laura

“Laura is a very valuable employee in our practice. She supports me in scheduling our receptionists and file clerk teams, and if a form or spreadsheet needs to be created or updated, she is quick to help. She definitely displays the RITE values as she relates to her co-workers and our patients.”

~ Rachelle Buckwalter, Cornerstone medical office supervisor

 This is Why I’m Proud to Work Here

I’m really proud of how well our whole office works together and treats each other with mutual respect and trust.

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