Meet the Staff: Kendra McLaughlin

By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department

Kendra McLaughlin is an Oakland hometown girl who graduated from Southern High School and then received a BS in Adult Fitness from WV Wesleyan College. She is currently the Director of Health Education and Outreach as well as the Dental Care Clinic at the Garrett County Health Department.

After waitressing and painting hotel rooms right out of college, Kendra hung up her paint brush when she got her first “big girl job” as the Health Education Coordinator at what was then known as Garrett County Memorial Hospital. She moved to Charleston, WV for a time and worked as Health Education Coordinator at the Charleston Area Medical Center, teaching Diet Modification classes and working in corporate wellness. In 1994, Kendra moved back to Garrett County and started her career at the Garrett County Health Department as a Health Educator. 

“I didn’t even have a desk for about the first 6 months because we were all jammed into little offices in our space at the hospital,” Kendra said. This was during the time when the Health Department was scattered around in many different locations around Oakland and Mt. Lake Park.

“From there, I moved to the log cabin on 219,” Kendra continued, “then to what we called the ‘Buchmann Building’ on 135, the dentist office on Memorial Drive (where Dr. Kuhn once was), and finally to the building we are in now.” Somehow during those many office moves, Kendra earned her MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In 2000, Kendra moved into the position of Director of Health Education and Outreach, and more recently added the Dental Care Clinic.

“There are lots of things I like about my job,” Kendra said. “It’s nice to have a job where your goal is making a difference in someone else’s life. Even though I don’t see progress every day, I’ve always liked knowing I’m working with a purpose. The people I work with are another reason I like my job. When you spend as much time with your coworkers as you do with your family, it’s a big bonus when you like them. They’ve really shaped who I am over the years – teaching me persistence, discernment, patience, resilience, and humility.”

There are a few accomplishments in Kendra’s work history she is proud of: 

• The after school programs started early during her tenure and are still serving Garrett County youth on both ends of the county.
• The Drug-Free Communities grant she helped write in 2008 continues to facilitate funding for local drug and alcohol prevention effort, but more importantly, youth alcohol and tobacco use declined steadily since those prevention funds began being infused into the county.

“And, on a much smaller scale,” she continued, “just last week while teaching a prevention lesson at after school, and I asked if anyone remembered the main message I talked to them about the year before. To my delight, one young guy remembered everything about the lesson, down to the main message and what little incentive I gave him to help remember. That’s a good day!”

Would anybody be at all surprised that Kendra admits she’s late for almost everything? Or that she loves watching basketball? She also enjoys yoga, reading, and working puzzles. 

Kendra’s favorite quote: “Let me either see Christ in or be Christ to everyone that I meet each day.” Credited to her former Sunday School teacher, Rosetta Rodeheaver.