Lori Genson
Lori rejoined MGH in 2017. She oversees the surgery and central reprocessing departments. She received her RN degree from South Puget Sound Community College, her BSN from WSU and her master’s degree from WGU. Outside of work she enjoys running, traveling and spending time with her two grandchildren.
Environmental Stewardship
To protect patients and staff members, Mason Health’s Director of Surgical Services Lori Genson has taken proactive steps toward eliminating smoke hazards in her department, years before a new state law goes into effect in 2024 requiring these protections. Thanks to her efforts, Mason Health has earned the Go Clear Award™ for its achievement in eliminating hazardous smoke from its surgical procedures.
The Go Clear Award is presented by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) to recognize health care facilities that have committed to providing increased surgical patient and health care worker safety by implementing practices that eliminate smoke caused by the use of lasers and electrosurgery devices during surgery. Mason Health earned its award by undergoing comprehensive surgical smoke education and testing and for providing the medical devices and resources necessary to evacuate surgical smoke during all smoke-generating procedures.
“Surgical smoke was a hidden danger that even some of my staff wasn’t aware of,” Genson said.
“Staff safety, in addition to patient safety, is so important to me in health care. Let’s be proactive instead of reactive. This award was not difficult to achieve because we were already way ahead of the game. We had been 98 percent smoke-free for four years, and now we are at 100 percent.”
In 2021, Mason Health earned its first Environmental Excellence Award from Practice Greenhealth, the nation's leading organization dedicated to environmental sustainability in health care. The District won the award again in 2022.
Genson was a member of the Green Team of department heads and frontline health care workers formalizing the District’s sustainable health care initiatives.
Read more about the Practice Greenhealth award in the October 2021 issue of SCOPE magazine and in this press release.
Composite Photo by Cooper Studios | Mason Health’s Green Team, clockwise from left: Lori Genson, Intraoperative Services Manager; Patrick O’Neil, Director of Facilities Engineering; Trevor Madison, Environmental Services Manager; Sean Hazlett, Director of Supply Chain; Kim Cooper, Program Manager: Infection Prevention, Employee Health & Safety; Stephanie Gunter, PharmD, Pharmacy Manager; Jennifer Capps, Chief Development & Communications Officer; and Laura Grubb, Compliance Officer. Not pictured: Kevin Keller, Senior Director of Human Resources; Lindsay Roberts, Laboratory Manager; Ashlee Johnson, Culinary & Nutrition Services Manager; Matt Cummings, Culinary & Nutrition Services Supervisor; Jon Hornburg, Senior Accountant, and Won Lee, Database Administrative Analyst.