LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

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Lori Osborne

Position: Health Services Coordinator
School: Columbia Public Schools
School District: Columbia Public Schools
City, State: Columbia, MO

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Lori Osborne was nominated by her colleague, Aurora Meyer, APR.

Ms. Osborne comes to work every day to serve the medical needs of students in Columbia Public Schools. She makes sure students have the best nursing care and seeks out ways to prevent long-term struggles by assisting with access to vision exams, hearing exams, dental hygiene programs, and annual flu vaccines. Ms. Osborne also plans for worst-case scenarios, including easy access to AED stations, having Narcan on hand, and so much more. In short, she's always thinking about the medical needs of others.

In 2020, a global pandemic added to her responsibilities, and the entire district leaned on her for more than 54 weeks as she quickly assumed a lead role in COVID-19 command. She reprised this role for the 2021-22 school year.

“Lori’s ability to think in terms of systems and protocols, her patience with so many people asking the same questions repeatedly, and her incredible sense of humor, especially during some of the darkest days, has made her an incredibly valuable asset to CPS,” retired superintendent Peter Stiepleman said.

Ms. Osborne’s commitment to keeping students and staff healthy is reiterated in her partnership with the local health department, which allowed CPS to implement processes for employees and students.

“From the first time Lori and I worked together back in 2002, she was a steady, trusted, and knowledgeable colleague who would go the extra mile for students and staff,” a colleague wrote in her nomination letter. “During this pandemic, when everything was unknown, those same qualities were magnified as she helped guide us through the maze of PPE and protocols with clarity, compassion, and grace.”

The success of the entire CPS operation and the district pandemic response were a result of Ms. Osborne’s tenacity and expertise.

“Lori was critical to our district's entire operation and pandemic response – processing, assessing, triaging, managing supplies, implementing mitigation, and educating staff, students, and families,” another colleague wrote. “COVID has been relentless over the last year, but despite the struggles, frustrations, and long hours, Lori remained strong and steadfast in keeping everyone safe – staff, students, and families.”

For these reasons, and many more, Ms. Osborne is truly the embodiment of a LifeChanger. All of the more than 180,000 residents of Columbia, MO are better because of her dedication and hard work.

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Comments (2)

Elizabeth Cramer RN, BSN Posted over a year ago

Lori Osborne supervises nurses and health secretaries in one of Missouri’s largest school districts, Columbia Public Schools. Lori has led our district in the time of Covid, teaching faculty and staff how to keep their students and themselves safe. She is calm in the face of chaos and leads with grace. We are indeed fortunate to have her steady guidance at a time when things can change on a daily basis. Thank you, Lori.

Helen Porter Posted over a year ago

Lori Osborne is a life-saver AND a lifechanger. She has officially saved so many lives - the lives of 2,000 staff members and 19,000 CPS students - with her expert, smart, and articulate COVID pandemic response. She remains a lifesaver to our district because of her amazing and practical medical background; her ability to see a problem in a universal way and yet take each element as a problem to solve; the collaboration she facilitates between Columbia Public Schools and local, state and federal organizations. Lori is a life-saver AND a lifechanger - and her brilliance has made all the difference for the scholars and staff of Columbia Public Schools.