April 2026
Patient Care Technician honored for spreading positivity
Janay Johnson, a Patient Care Technician at the Mother Baby Center at UM Health-Sparrow Lansing, is April's Team Member Spotlight. Johnson was an honors high school student in 2013 when her brother was murdered, and the loss changed her life.
"After my brother passed, I really didn't have an outlook on going to college," she said. "But after his passing, I was like, I want more."
Johnson started as a housekeeper at University of Michigan Health-Sparrow Lansing. The job helped her see patient care up close and down a path to get her nursing degree. She will graduate from the Baker College nursing school this year.
"Being at Sparrow, even in housekeeping, helped me with that turning point into going into nursing," she said.
In her current role, Johnson helps mothers and babies after Cesarean sections and performs newborn hearing screens. She said her coworkers make every shift a breeze.
"I feel like Sparrow is home," she said. "There's no other hospital that competes."
Her journey has been long and difficult without her brother. Yet she remains positive and determined to help people in her community.
"Every day you wake up is another chance for you to do over," she said.
The Team Member Spotlight recognizes team members who exemplify the health system’s core values of compassion, dedication and professionalism in service to patients and colleagues.