Sugar Ray Thomas
This ardent, analytical and energetic woman heads one of the most important government agencies on the North Coast. She is Fabia Lamm, who is the regional director of the North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA).
Fabia Lamm has displayed a sense of independence and commitment in reaching her goals. She can also be described as passionate, driven, a go-getter and people-oriented. She has followed in the footsteps of her mother and father in giving committed and dedicated service to her country through work as a civil servant for close to 27 years.
This accomplished woman told the North Coast Times that being the eldest of four children and the only girl, helped to toughen her as she grew up in Great Pond, Ocho Rios, St Ann. “I grew up in a humble family background where the availability of the thrills wasn’t there, but we had what we needed,” she said.
Her mother, Winifred Lamm, a civil servant for her entire career, working at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and her father, the late Huklyn Lamm, a chemist in the sugar industry and a mechanic at Reynolds Bauxite, placed emphasis on the importance of education.
TOOK A DIFFERENT ROUTE
Ms Lamm attended Ocho Rios Primary School and later moved on to Westwood High School. With the intention of being a nurse, she enrolled at the Brown’s Town Community College after graduation. However, after doing community service at the St. Ann’s Bay Hospital and witnessing someone being brought in with multiple wounds, she fainted. “I started second-guessing at that time if I really wanted to be a nurse,” Ms Lamm explained, with a laugh.
Though it would have been challenging switching her nursing course to secretarial studies mid-way, her sheer determination to succeed propelled her to garner her diploma in secretarial studies in 1987.
Though encouraged by her parents to consider going to university, now that she had the diploma and several CXC subject passes, Ms Lamm said, “I was adamant at the time that no I’ve done enough schooling, I wanted to start working.”
THE WORLD OF WORK
Throughout her early years working as a secretary, Fabia Lamm honed her skills and garnered managerial skills by being secretary to some of the best in management. Her first job was at the Ministry of Labour and Social Secruity in St. Ann’s Bay where she worked as a clerk typist in the public assistance division. She spent eighteen months there and was then transferred to the St. Ann’s Bay Hospital where she worked as a secretary to the then chief executive officer, Gwen Hamilton for four years. During that time, she did the relevant secretarial courses at the Public Training Department (later MIND) and became qualified as a level 3 secretary.
Over the next two years, Ms Lamm relocated to Kingston and worked as an executive secretary in a private organization, while pursuing a certified professional secretary (CPS) course.
“Being a country girl and hearing a lot about Kingston, I went ahead with the opportunity… But I realized the whole bright light and big city wasn’t for me and I missed country and I was home sick,” she explained.
On June 24, 1996, Fabia Lamm landed a job as the executive secretary to the manager of the St. Ann Development Company (SADCO), a subsidiary of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC). While there, she worked with the likes of Alfred Allen and later Faith Thomas, both managers of SADCO, who were her mentors. In addition, she became a member of the Jamaica Association of Secretaries and Administrative Professionals (JASAP) and won an award for Secretary of the Year.
“Being a secretary at that level, you are very close to the top managers and I had some exposure there. That’s when I started rethinking going to university and pursuing my degree in management studies,” Ms Lamm said.
With the University of the West Indies (UWI) having an open campus in Ocho Rios at the time, she made her application and everything was beginning to fall into place at the right time.
TRANSFORMING GREEN GROTTO CAVES
Even before attaining her Bachelor’s of Science degree with first class honors in Management Studies in 2004 another big change was on the horizon for her.
In 1999, the UDC advertised for a manager of the Green Grotto Caves in Discovery Bay, St. Ann as they had recently acquired it to add to its line of tourist attractions that SADCO would manage in the St. Ann area. Ms Lamm applied for the position and landed the job.
PROFITS AND ENVIRONMENT
Ms Lamm served as manager between April 1, 2000 and March 2014. She explained that it was an experience that she enjoyed as she and her team worked hard to achieve the goals of increasing profits, while utilizing various strategies geared at preservation of the environment at the property.
“I remember while there we were saying what we can do to try position this attraction as not just being another tourism attraction. What would be different about it? And that’s when we went the path of having it environmentally certified internationally. We did this by using the Green Globe distinction, an international environmental certification and we started with Green Grotto being Green Globe certified and maintained that certification. When I left, I believe we were platinum certified,” boasted Ms Lamm.
She added that this achievement was a staff effort and during her time as manager of the attraction, it had a minimal staff turnover rate. Green Grotto caves also received several awards of recognition at the time for their exceptional work under her leadership.
THE LECTURER
While working as manager of Green Grotto caves, she attained her Master of Science degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management in 2005, specializing in Tourism Management, from UWI. She was also able to achieve outstanding academic excellence as she was a member of the Honors Society of the Faculty of Social Sciences.
While completing her master’s programme, she was encouraged by her head of department at the time, Dr. Derrick Deslandes to become his student assistant/tutor .Ms Lamm went on to become an adjunct lecturer in tourism and marketing courses at the Mona campus of UWI between 2005 and 2008.
She also lectured at the Western campus of UWI in Montego Bay, St James between 2010 and 2014.
NEW BEGINNINGS WITH NERHA
With Green Grotto caves now “out of the red”, as Fabia Lamm describes it, earning a profit and most of its development complete, it was time for her to move on to discover new challenges.
“I’ve never been the type of person to settle or to be comfortable. I’ve always been looking for challenges and new things,” she explained, seated in her office as regional director of the North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA). This is a post she has occupied since April of 2014.
THE CHALLENGES OF HEALTH
Ms Lamm explained that the experience at NERHA has been a learning one, especially with the various challenges that the health sector faces, such as the recent outbreaks of the Chikungunya virus, Zika V, customer service and insufficient resources.
With her job portfolio stretching over three parishes, St Mary, St Ann and Portland — consisting of four hospitals and approximately 72 health centres — team work is vital. “To be on top of things, you can’t achieve this alone. You have to get others to realize that it needs collaboration where all hands have to be on deck.”
In addition, she works along with the other regional directors and the Ministry of Health to ensure that they are working towards the same practices and goals.
“It is important to try and balance the management of the health sector, from the perspective of not just looking at the interests of your patients or your clients who are important, but also the welfare of your staff is critical to also look at. You also have to look across the three parishes and identify the strengths and the weaknesses and address those.”
Ms Lamm is continuing her work ardently to resolve the issues facing the health sector, while looking forward to pursuing her doctorate.
IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY
Ms Lamm also noted that her family has been that guiding force in her life and that bond with them has sustained her throughout the years. “I try to wind down by reading or watching a few of my favourite programmes on television. My family is very dear to me and I make time with my family.”
Her mother, Winifred Lamm, who now resides overseas with her brother, has been her source of strength. She is also very close with her three brothers, Marlon, Andrew and Craig.
“We went to a very low when we lost our father. It is not something you envision, but we have been strong for each other by providing support,” she said.
Fabia Lamm lives outside of Ocho Rios, but she indicated that she will always refer to herself as “the Great Pond girl in Ocho Rios.”
She is an Anglican, a member of the St. John’s Anglican Church in Ocho Rios, where she plays a role in their outreach programmes.
Ms Lamm is also a member of the school boards for St. John’s Preparatory School, Ocho Rios High School and Brown’s Town Community College.
MESSAGE TO WOMEN
Though she believes that she has yet to achieve her “self-actualization”, Fabia Lamm believes that the most important thing for women today is to have a goal and be focused on that. She also indicated that the importance of a mentor is critical.
She noted that education is the key and encouraged the women in our society to work hard, because the reality was that “women have to do three times what a man does to get some recognition.”
“You have to balance working out there and maintaining your femininity. We don’t have to be like men to be strong women.”
