2003 Staff of the Year Award

Cynthia Colwell

Trust. Confidence. Order. Friendship. Those are the qualities that Cynthia Colwell brought to General Surgery when she arrived nine years ago “like a breath of fresh air,” as one coworker stated.

“ Cindy always has an open door policy. She welcomes anyone any time to stop by and talk to her about anything,” says another. And still another colleague: “Since Cindy has joined the Section of General Surgery I have seen extremely positive changes to this area —the employee morale is at an all-time high. Cindy relates extremely well to the faculty. The clinic is running better than it has in years. The research area appears more organized than in the past. Cindy always encourages staff to be the best they can be and stimulates growth among her team.”

As administrator for the section, Ms. Colwell oversees all personnel issues and budgets. Everything from policies and procedures to employee recruitment to educational and research programs fall within her area of responsibility. She also has been involved in the General Surgery satellite clinics at the Cancer Center, and in Livonia and Chelsea. These myriad tasks mean long hours and tight deadlines, yet Ms. Colwell, always calm, gets the work done. And yet, she still has time to meet with employees and make them feel involved and appreciated. “She has shown that she is concerned about the success of the employees, both in and out of the workplace. This reiterates that Cindy is caring and unfailingly concerned about everyone around her,” notes a colleague.

Ms. Colwell graduated from Siena Heights College. She is a member of the MGMA and several internal Medical Center committees. She is married to Steve Pastorino and has two sons, Matt, 21, and Steve, 16, and two stepchildren, Susan, 22, and Tony, 21. Ms. Colwell enjoys going for nature walks with her two German Shepherd puppies and training them whenever time permits. While her hobbies today include quilting, gardening and bowling, her past interests were a bit more flamboyant: in 1972, Ms. Colwell was a Green Bay Packers cheerleader for one season.