NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HCA Healthcare (NYSE: HCA) today presented the HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction to recipients at a ceremony in Nashville.
HCA Healthcare is a collaborative healthcare network focused on embracing new opportunities and developing innovative approaches that deliver superior patient-centered care with warmth and compassion to every patient every visit. The HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction celebrate the organization’s positive impact on patients, colleagues and communities by recognizing extraordinary individuals who exemplify HCA Healthcare’s culture and values. The six individuals being recognized are true examples of HCA Healthcare’s commitment to the care and improvement of human life.
The Frist Humanitarian Award recognizes the highest achievements in serving others; the HCA Innovators Award recognizes creative new ideas for enhancing quality of care and efficiency; and the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award recognizes the highest levels of performance in the field of nursing.
“The HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction recognize the very best of HCA Healthcare, the men and women whose work and lives mirror our organization’s values and mission,” said Sam Hazen, HCA Healthcare’s chief executive officer. “The recipients being honored today inspire their colleagues across the country and they serve as a reminder of our organization’s promise to improve more lives in more ways.”
Frist Humanitarian Award Recipients
The Frist Humanitarian Award, named in honor of HCA Healthcare co-founder, Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Sr. (1910 – 1998), was created in 1971. The award honors individuals within HCA Healthcare who demonstrate a level of commitment and caring that goes beyond everyday acts of kindness, and who inspire colleagues with their compassion and dedication. In 2018, HCA Healthcare colleagues collectively volunteered more than 156,000 hours in their communities – a value of more than $3.8 million. The recipients of this award are stellar examples of that volunteer spirit. Their generosity and community service epitomize the humanitarian principles established by HCA Healthcare’s founders.
The Frist Humanitarian Award includes a $5,000 donation to the charity of the recipient’s choice and a $5,000 gift for the employee and volunteer recipients. The physician recipient receives a $10,000 donation to the charity of the physician’s choice.
Recipients of the 47th annual Frist Humanitarian Award are: Jan Woolley, RN, a nurse at St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah; J. Ryland Scott, MD, FACS, a physician at Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome, Georgia; and Charla E. Summers, a volunteer at Eastside Medical Center in Snellville, Georgia.
“The recipients of the Frist Humanitarian Award are selfless individuals whose commitment to care extends far beyond our hospital walls,” Hazen said. “Through philanthropy and volunteerism, these individuals are living out the vision of our organization’s founders. They have dedicated their lives to serving in their own communities and around the world in hopes of giving people a healthier tomorrow.”
Jan Woolley, RN, has been with St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah for more than 23 years, and she currently serves in the hospital’s pain clinic and senior center. Woolley’s life changed nine years ago when her late husband was diagnosed with cancer and they decided to travel at least once a month. Those trips took them around the world and soon became humanitarian missions, which she continues today, through which Woolley provides care as well as medical supplies and technology to low resource communities in foreign countries.
J. Ryland Scott, MD, FACS, is a general surgery and advanced laparoscopy physician who has worked at Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome, Georgia for 16 years. He led the development of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) for colorectal surgeries in 2014, which resulted in reduced length of stay and improved recovery times for patients. After learning that his home county in the state of Georgia had a high number of children in need of foster homes, Dr. Scott and his family decided to help. In addition to raising their biological triplets, the Scotts have fostered eight children. He is also involved in youth ministry and, along with his wife, was a founding chair of the Young Life program, a faith-based camp for teenagers, in Rome, Georgia.
Charla E. Summers, a retired middle and high school language arts teacher and counselor of 38 years, has volunteered at Eastside Medical Center in Snellville, Georgia for seven years. She has been an integral part of numerous programs and committees at the hospital, including serving as the VolunTeen program coordinator and new hire tour coordinator, among others. A survivor of domestic abuse, Summers’ personal experience drives her passion for helping others. In addition to her volunteer work at the hospital, she was inspired to serve at a crisis intervention center as a hotline operator and lead support groups for children of abusive parents and individuals struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.
HCA Innovators Award Recipient
HCA Healthcare was created through the vision of founders Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Sr., Mr. Jack Massey and Dr. Thomas “Tommy” Frist, Jr., and today HCA Healthcare is a learning health system that continues to invest in and develop the latest technology, treatments and tools that help shape the future of patient care. Established in 2010, the HCA Innovators Award honors HCA Healthcare’s legacy of innovation by recognizing the entrepreneurial spirit and forward thinking of HCA Healthcare’s colleagues today. Through their efforts and innovation, HCA Healthcare strives to deliver the most effective care with the best possible results. The HCA Innovators Award recipient receives a $5,000 gift and a $5,000 donation to the charity of the recipient’s choice.
This year’s HCA Innovators Award recipient is Gabriel O. Perez Rodriquez, vice president of software development. Perez developed five HCA Healthcare patents and has distinguished himself as an innovative thinker who has helped improve operations and patient care during his 16 years with HCA Healthcare. Most notably, Perez introduced the nationally recognized ER Wait Times system, which led to process improvements in the ER and increased patient satisfaction.
“Innovation and discovery are key to our goal to continually improve care and the patient experience,” said Bill Rutherford, executive vice president and chief financial officer of HCA Healthcare. “Gabe’s creativity, patient-centered approach and problem solving abilities have led to innovation at HCA Healthcare that is improving patient care.”
HCA Excellence in Nursing Award Recipients
HCA Healthcare’s knowledgeable and compassionate nurses are on the front line of patient care. Every day, nurses make the greatest single contribution to quality patient experiences, and no one embodies HCA Healthcare’s commitment to patients more than nurses. HCA Healthcare supports its approximately 94,000 nurses by investing in their careers through learning opportunities and leadership development programs. HCA Healthcare is creating an environment where nurses have the ability to grow and practice at the top of their license, making HCA Healthcare a desired career destination for top nurses. Created in 2014, The HCA Excellence in Nursing Award recognizes the intrinsic value of the nursing practice in advancing HCA Healthcare’s mission to care for and improve human life. With categories for professional mentoring and compassionate care, the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award recipients each receive a $5,000 gift and $5,000 donation to the charity of the recipient’s choice.
Recipients of this year’s HCA Excellence in Nursing Award are: Abby DeSesso, MSN, RN, Reston Hospital Center in Reston, Virginia; and Sheandi Richins, BSN, RN, CEN, TCRN, Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
“Nursing is a true calling, and I am incredibly proud of the HCA Healthcare nurses who provide compassionate care to our patients each day,” said Jane Englebright, senior vice president and chief nurse executive for HCA Healthcare. “The recipients of this award are particularly remarkable individuals who set the standard for what it means to care like family—for our patients and each other.”
Abby DeSesso, MSN, RN, received the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award in the Compassionate Care category. DeSesso is an ICU clinical coordinator and senior charge nurse at Reston Hospital Center. Throughout her six years with the hospital, she has demonstrated an outstanding ability to connect with patients and their families. DeSesso is known to have an endless supply of arts and crafts for the children of patients to help entertain them and make them less afraid in the ICU. She is known for finding unique ways to inspire hope for her patients. She often coordinates with respiratory and physical therapy team members to set-up the necessary equipment and medical devices to make it possible for ventilated patients to spend an afternoon outside enjoying the sunshine.
Sheandi Richins, BSN, RN, CEN, TCRN received the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award in the Professional Mentoring category. Richins has worked at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center for more than 15 years. In her role as emergency room clinical educator, Richins takes enormous pride in helping her colleagues reach their potential. She developed the New Graduate Emergency Room Program and the Primary Trauma Nurse Development Pathway, and created the “Outstanding Preceptor of the Quarter” award as a way to encourage fellow nurses. She uses her passion for fitness to support colleagues in need, including hosting a Zumbathon event to raise money for a colleague with brain cancer.
For more information about the HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction, please visit www.HCATodayBlog.com.
About HCA Healthcare
Nashville-based HCA Healthcare is one of the nation's leading providers of healthcare services, comprising 184 hospitals and approximately 2,000 sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers, and physician clinics, in 21 states and the United Kingdom. With its founding in 1968, HCA Healthcare created a new model for hospital care in the United States, using combined resources to strengthen hospitals, deliver patient-focused care and improve the practice of medicine. HCA Healthcare has conducted a number of clinical studies, including one that demonstrated that full-term delivery is healthier than early elective delivery of babies and another that identified a clinical protocol that can reduce bloodstream infections in ICU patients by 44 percent. HCA Healthcare is a learning health system that uses its more than 31 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve patient care and save lives. Please click here to connect with HCA Healthcare on social media.
All references to “Company,” “HCA” and “HCA Healthcare” as used throughout this document refer to HCA Healthcare, Inc. and its affiliates.
