Compassion

Abegail Yocum Certified Medical Assistant, Professional Physicians Center

Nominated by Jenny Flowers, RN | Colleague I would like to nominate Abegail Yocum for the exceptional care award for compassion. I would like to start out by explaining that I work in the wound care clinic as a nurse. On this particular day, we were short-staffed and very busy. We had a patient arrive from a local nursing home that required one-on-one care, but the patient was dropped off in the waiting room with no assistance. While in the waiting room waiting for appointment, the patient was calling out for assistance due to a panic attack. The patient was soon brought back to our department via wheelchair by Ms. Abegail. I heard her soft voice speaking peacefully to the patient to calm her.

Once in the treatment room, Abegail assisted me in transferring patients via hover lift from wheelchair to stretcher. Abegail stayed at the patient’s side for the whole visit. The patient stated that she had not had lunch and was very hungry and thirsty. Abegail told her she would get her something from the cafeteria. She came back shortly with a sandwich, pudding, and some ice water. Abegail assisted the patient with her meal and the patient was very happy with the food and finished all the of the lunch Abegail had brought her. Throughout the whole visit Abegail stayed by the patient’s side, tending to her with a fan when she got too hot and feeding her bites of pudding. Abegail also talked with the patient about the patient’s love for horses and her favorite vacation spots. At the end of the visit, Abbey assisted me with transferring the patient back to her wheelchair from the stretcher.

The care and attention from Abegail Yocum given to our patient was both outstanding and time consuming. I know working in a busy clinic that time is very important and valuable. I very much appreciate employees that take the time out of their busy schedules to help and assist not only other departments but also help with patients that require a little extra care and comfort. I know that our patient very much appreciated Abbey that day, but even more I know how much we appreciated her that day. Thank you for all you do Abegail!

Compassion

Sarah Flores Certified Medical Assistant, Professional Physician Center

Nominated by Abegail Yocum, CMA | Colleague I would like to nominate Sarah Flores for the compassion award. I am nominating Sarah for this award because she is constantly showing ICARE values in her daily tasks. There is one patient in particular that Sarah went above and beyond with. She is a patient that they had found cancer in, and they needed to send her to Lubbock to see an oncologist as well as needing certain treatments done here at our facility. Unfortunately, the patient did not have her own transportation, and was unable to afford the transportation options that were given to her which was going to hinder the treatment she needed to receive. After talking with the patient Sarah was made aware that this patient has no family near her to help her out, so Sarah paid for the patient’s transportation to her oncology appointments in Lubbock as well as her transportation to our facility for imaging. Sarah continued to do this until the patient was released. She did this with no hesitation, she saw a patient that needed help to get the care she deserved, and she lent a helping hand. This event truly showed the type of compassion Sarah has for her patients.

Nominated by Scott Beard, M.D. | Physician Sarah Flores, CMA in Women’s Health has truly gone above and beyond over the last 7 months for a patient of women’s health. This patient came in to see Dr. Beard at the end of June and after having a biopsy done at this appt she was diagnosed with cancer. The patient had a follow-up scheduled to receive results, and the patient was a no showed to her appointment. Sarah attempted to confirm the appointment prior and realized the patient did not have a working phone number. After the patient missed the appt she continued to try the number on file with no avail. Sarah expressed her concerns to me, her supervisor, and asked what could be done. We went through a few steps and still had no luck contacting the patient, or even getting certified mail to her. We did have an alternate contact for the patient, but the person answering the phone did not know where she was. Sarah continued for 5 months to contact the alternate contact just to see if he had heard from her and to remind him to please have her contact us as it was important. Sarah also set up a welfare check for this patient at her address on file, but it was an RV park and the patient no longer had her RV there. Finally, after 5 months the patient called Dr. Beard’s office late one evening after hours and Sarah happened to still be here working late (again she was going above beyond by being here late) and answered the phone.  Sarah right then and there got the patient scheduled, worked on transportation and all the logistics. She also walked the patient to the cancer center for her first appointment, so she did not have to be alone. The story doesn’t end here, the patient did not have the financial means to pay for Nor-Lea transportation, and financial counseling was unable to help the patient at this time. Sarah not only scheduled and set up all future appointments for patient cancer treatments, some of these being in Lubbock with a specialist, she also set up and paid for out of her own pocket for the patient’s transportation on each occasion. I have waited to nominate Sarah over this time as the story has continued to unfold. The patient recently had surgery with Dr. Beard and had her cancer removed (hopefully), and Sarah has continued to stay in touch with the patient, coordinate her follow-up care and pay for her transportation each time. Dr. Beard and I want to nominate Sarah for this award as she showed this patient true compassion and went above and beyond in every way.

Nominated by Laura Gryder | Navigation Coordinator I would like to nominate Sarah Flores for an Exceptional Care Award. Dr. Beard had a gynecology case that had been referred to a specialist at UMC for a higher level of care. Sarah and her team had worked tirelessly to follow through with the referral and ensure that the patient was taken care of. This patient ended up being admitted at UMC and needed follow up chemotherapy. Due to patient’s insurance coverage, UMC was risking treating the patient with out-of-pocket costs or transferring her to Albuquerque New Mexico where here insurance was in network. UMC was having a difficult time finding a location that would accept the patient and reached out to Dr. Beard’s office to communicate this. It is during this call that Sarah took the initiative to go out of her way to ensure that the patient received the care that she deserved. Sarah voiced to the UMC nurse that our cancer center had a navigator and offered to connect UMC to us. Sarah, with the nurse on the other line, called me directly and provided me with details of the patient’s case and asked if we could please assist. She transferred the nurse directly to me and ensured that if there were any resources, they were available to the nurse and most importantly, the patient. With this direct connection, we were able to schedule the patient within days with our center and plan to provide her with the care that she needs here locally including chemotherapy. When I called the nurse back to communicate all the details, Dr. Reedy personally got on the phone. He voiced that he was having to risk keeping the patient in the hospital to attempt to treat her and this was going to be so expensive for the patient. Not to mention the fact that the patient was not going to be able to be at home with her family support during the time that she needed it the most. He was so thankful for the coordination and most of all for the initiative that Sarah took to ensure that this patient was taken care of by connecting the appropriate resources. Thank you, Sarah, for going out of your way to take care of this patient. You changed someone’s life that day!

Accountability

Abraham Soto Environmental Technician, Nor-Lea Hospital District

Nominated by Jessie Guerrero | Environmental Services Manager Abraham He is a very friendly person who is always concerned about doing his job in the best possible way; he is very careful and detailed in what he does. He is always helping patients and colleagues with whatever they need, always putting on his best attitude and a smile. Abraham is a person who is always available to cover any area where it is needed, in which employees highlight him for his kindness and for being a very proactive person. He is also known among his colleagues as a respectful and charismatic person with everyone. He is one of the people who, with little time working the day shift, has been recognized several times either by a thank you card, an ICARE card, or by invitations to eat in the different departments of the hospital. That is why the housekeeping department considers him a good candidate to be nominated for the category of respect and compassion since we have all come to the conclusion as a team that Abraham meets the traits and values that guide Nor-Lea; He is being a kind, helpful, proactive, respectful and friendly person. It is for these reasons that we hope that Abraham can be recognized for the good work and effort he puts in every day.

Nominated by Maribel Sanchez, CMA | Colleague Abraham is a member in Housekeeping. The Diabetes and ACO Department have grown so fond of him. He is super friendly and always carries a big smile on his face. He shows true dedication and genuine concern for his job. We appreciate him and enjoy his spirit. 

Nominated by Emily Marinovich, RN | HIM Manager Abraham Soto is the definition of an exceptional employee- not only is he consistently polite and hardworking but he takes such pride in the work that he does that you can’t help but feel motivated by his ‘go getter’ drive. Recently, I was using the housekeeping microwave to warm my food and while there I overheard an interaction between a newly hired employee and Abraham. Abraham was telling the employee how much he was going to love it here at Nor Lea and stressing the fact that the work that they do matters. He was so positive and passionate about his job. I could see how his words of encouragement were contagious and making all the difference to this individual. It is employees like Abraham that make Nor Lea Hospital exceptional, for the staff as well as the patients.

Empowerment

BranDee Savell, CNO Chief Nursing Officer, Nor-Lea Hospital District

Nominated by David Shaw | Chief Executive Officer, Administrator

BranDee Savell has served on my executive team for 8 years both as Chief Quality Officer and Chief Nursing Officer.  She has been the driving force since 2010 when she was Quality Director on our Performance Excellence Journey.  Her accolades include leading us to 2 – Pinon recognition, 4 road runner recognitions, Zia recognition, 1st CAH to receive a site visit and the Eureka Award.  The time and effort she put into all of this can never be repaid by myself or this community that has benefited so greatly.  While these awards are wonderful and give us a since of pride and confirmation of our success in delivering excellent care to our community, they are not the reason I nominated BranDee for the value of Empowerment. I nominated BranDee because she has empowered so many of us to achieve so much and has empowered individuals to be a better version of themselves.  She had empowered many of us to accolades in performance journey by encouraging people to become yellow belts, green belts, black belts.  Helping both leaders and front-line staff to become inspired by their ability to effect positive change in the organization.  She has helped launch careers in performance excellence and has empowered a whole organization to transform the quality of life for people in Lea County. It is my honor to nominate my fellow colleague and soldier in this venture to transform healthcare and how it is delivered in Lea County.