The 8th Annual Hospital Hero Awards, held Nov. 8, 2013 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, celebrates and recognizes the great work performed by direct care workers on the front lines of hospitals.Proceeds from the fundraising event go to National Health Foundation (NHF), a nonprofit dedicated to improving and enhancing the health care of the underserved and providing systemic solutions to the gaps in healthcare access and delivery.Pat Harvey, CBS2 veteran newswoman, served to present finalists’ awards and share their stories with the luncheon guests.NHF thanks the event’s title sponsor, PIH Health.

Three hundred attendees and 34 nominees from 30 hospitals gathered at the event. Six awards were presented to these finalists. Award recipients include:

Debra Rodgers, RN, Beth Calmes, RN, and Jonathan Grotts, hospital statistician, from Cottage Health System in Santa Barbara made outstanding efforts to support families coping with death in the hospital setting. Their research will be published as a new evidenced-based best practice: a practice developed by bedside nurses to create a compassionate, ceremonial closure called Nursing Care at the Time of Death.

Dr. Glenn Lopez, a family practitioner at Providence St. Joseph Hospital who travels around the San Fernando Valley five days a week, tows his mobile clinic and parks it in church lots in the poorest neighborhoods. His goal is to lessen the likelihood that their chronic conditions will develop into serious complications that send the underserved to emergency departments.

At Children’s Hospital in Orange County, phlebotomist (and erstwhile magician) Jaime Serna helps to create the most pleasant experience possible for his patients. Serna trained phlebotomists to meet the “one visit, one poke” goal. His sincere concern for patients inspired new employees, who quickly adopted Serna’s “tricks” for creating the most compassionate experience possible.

Susanna Cheung, a registered nurse on the Transitional Care Unit of PIH Health in Whittier, uses her experience to mentor new nurses at the bedside of geriatric patients. While on the nursing unit, she brings her patients to sit by her side at the nursing station while she carries out her work, thus giving lonely patients a bit more human contact and the attention they need.

Paul Carrillo, of St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood, served as a volunteer before he was appointed to the Trauma Team as the Injury Prevention Coordinator. His mantra is, “Saving lives begins before the gurney.” He organized school-based injury prevention programs and developed resources that give young people alternatives to violence. He initiated an after-school film project and a work training program.

The final award went to Mark Cohen, a Providence Tarzana hospital volunteer who has been delivering mail and newspapers to patients for 30 years. Cohen, who doesn’t drive due to a developmental disability, has rarely missed work. He brightens the days of patients, coming into their rooms with a smile, kind words and a tremendous example of his ability to accept challenges and look at the good things in life.

Contact: Gail Peters
(213) 538-0746, gpeters@nhfca.org