HCA Healthcare presented the 2016 HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction to recipients at a ceremony in Nashville. The HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction include the Frist Humanitarian Award, the HCA Innovators Award and the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award. These annual awards celebrate employees, physicians and volunteers who exemplify the company’s culture and values.

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 celebrate some of HCA’s finest employees, physicians and volunteers who live out our company’s values and mission every day,” said Milton Johnson, HCA’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Our HCA Healthcare Awards of Distinction recipients have demonstrated that delivering healthcare the way it was intended – compassionate, patient-centered, community-focused – makes a difference in the lives of our patients, our communities and beyond.”

Frist Humanitarian Award Recipients

The Frist Humanitarian Award, named in honor of one of HCA’s co-founders, Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Sr. (1910 – 1998), was created in 1971. The award honors individuals within HCA who demonstrate a level of commitment and caring that goes beyond everyday acts of kindness, and who inspire colleagues with their compassion, dedication and spirit. Employees, volunteers and physicians who provide outstanding care and demonstrate humanitarianism are selected from around the country, and honorees are recognized at the local level.

The Frist Humanitarian Award includes a $5,000 donation to the charity of the recipient’s choice and $5,000 for the employee or volunteer. The physician honoree receives a $10,000 donation to the charity of his or her choice.

Recipients of the 45^th annual Frist Humanitarian Award are: Leolalinda Petinglay Plameras, RN, BSN, an ICU nurse at Doctors Hospital of Augusta in Augusta, Georgia; Mark Stavros, MD, medical director of emergency services at West Florida Hospital in Pensacola, Florida; and Beverly Ford, a volunteer in the emergency room at Medical City Lewisville in Lewisville, Texas.

“The Frist Humanitarian Award recipients recognized today have worked selflessly to improve the lives of people in need, in their communities and around the world,” said Johnson. “Their commitment to the care and improvement of human life inspires all of us to continue the philanthropic work of HCA’s founders.”

Leolalinda Petinglay Plameras, RN, BSN, has worked as an ICU nurse at Doctors Hospital of Augusta for eight years and founded Agape Children and Christian Ministries, an organization that provides resources for at-risk youth. Plameras is known in her community for her fearless determination to make a difference and has inspired her colleagues to join her efforts through collection drives hosted at Doctors Hospital of Augusta. She also is involved in humanitarian work in the Philippines, opening a Christian radio station and purchasing a rice field to help feed the staff of the radio station and those in need.

Mark Stavros, MD, has worked at West Florida Hospital for 17 years and also serves as clinical faculty at the Florida State University College of Medicine. For the past fourteen years, Dr. Stavros has traveled annually to Central America on medical mission trips, piloting a telemedicine health delivery project to expand medical care in rural Panama and establishing a nonprofit organization to help sponsor aspiring medical students from Panama.

Beverly Ford has volunteered at Medical City Lewisville for eight years, logging more than 2,400 volunteer hours during this time. As a dedicated emergency room volunteer, Ford handles the fast pace and often stressful environment with ease and has been known to volunteer on holidays, including Christmas Day. Beyond her work at the hospital, Ford also serves the Texas Ramp Project, a nonprofit organization that builds wheelchair ramps for the elderly and disabled, and serves the Lewisville Fire Department Reserves, providing supplies and rehabilitation for first responders.

HCA Innovators Award Recipients

HCA was created through the vision of founders Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Sr., Mr. Jack Massey and Dr. Thomas “Tommy” Frist, Jr., and nearly 50 years later, the company continues to invent and develop systems to advance health and patient care, in large part due to ideas from employees. The HCA Innovators Award, established in 2010, continues the tradition of recognizing innovative thinkers whose ideas improve patient quality, service or the efficiency of operations. The HCA Innovators Award winners receive $10,000.

Recipients of the 2016 HCA Innovators Award are: Fred Webster, director of physician and provider relations for West Valley Medical Center in Caldwell, Idaho; Hunter Davis, director of IT&S at Portsmouth Regional Hospital in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Sean Albert, director of application services for the Capital division in Richmond, Virginia; and Mohammed Elayan, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacist with the Sarah Cannon Cancer Institute at TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

“Innovation has been a core driver of our company’s success since our founding, and today, innovation continues to pave new paths to help us serve our patients,” said Sam Hazen, president and chief operating officer of HCA. “This year’s winners of the HCA Innovators Award have developed forward-thinking solutions to improve processes and service delivery, resulting in safer care and a better patient experience.”

Fred Webster received the HCA Innovators Award in the service excellence category. Webster’s innovative approach to surgical scheduling, using a database and algorithm, streamlines the scheduling process and improves the experience for patients, physicians and employees.

Hunter Davis and Sean Albert received the HCA Innovators Award in the quality and patient safety category. While working together in the IT&S department of HCA’s Capital division, they created an application called IV Guardian, which proactively alerts nurses about potential IV medication errors, improving patient safety and reducing IV alarms which helps provide a better patient experience.

Mohammed Elayan, PharmD, BCOP, received the HCA Innovators Award in the financial impact category. Some patients require a different amount of medication than what is in a standard dose, and this can result in wasted leftover medication. Dr. Elayan developed a dosing strategy that produces the desired therapeutic results for patients while minimizing medication waste.

HCA Excellence in Nursing Award Recipients

HCA’s knowledgeable and compassionate nurses are on the front line of patient care, every day. The HCA Excellence in Nursing Award, created in 2014, recognizes the intrinsic value of the nursing practice in accomplishing the company mission of providing the highest quality of care to patients and communities. With categories for mentoring and compassionate care, the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award recipients receive $5,000 and a $5,000 donation to the charity of their choice.

Recipients of the 2016 HCA Excellence in Nursing Award are: Teresa Bolido, RN, charge nurse on the progressive care unit at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska; Karen Giovengo, RN, MSN, CNL, nursing director of medical, pediatric and oncology at St. Lucie Medical Center in Port St. Lucie, Florida; Barbara B. Rees, PhD, RN, nurse leader at Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome, Georgia; and Leah Farrell, BSN, RN, clinical nurse coordinator and educator at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado.

“Every day, I am privileged to witness the compassion, expertise and patient-centered commitment HCA nurses demonstrate in their varied roles throughout our company,” said Jane Englebright, PhD, RN, CENP, FAAN, HCA’s senior vice president and chief nursing officer. “This year’s HCA Excellence in Nursing Award recipients have excelled in providing compassionate care as well as exceptional leadership.”

Teresa Bolido, RN, received the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award in the compassionate care category. Bolido extends kindness, consideration and concern to all her patients as well as other nurses and staff. She goes above and beyond to provide individualized, compassionate care often using outside-the-box approaches such as making a video of a patient’s grandchildren or singing while taking patients around the hospital to provide a dose of cheer in otherwise difficult situations. Bolido’s personalized approach to providing care inspires her coworkers and makes a difference for her patients and their families.

This year, three nurses were presented with the HCA Excellence in Nursing Award for professional mentoring.

Karen Giovengo, RN, MSN, CNL, is dedicated to developing others, leading several programs at St. Lucie Medical Center to help ensure nurses have opportunities to grow professionally and contributing to the science and practice of nursing through published articles in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at six national conferences. She developed the hospital’s nurse residency program to help train and mentor new nurses and leads the hospital’s Professional Development Council, helping ensure resources are available so nurses can pursue certification in their specialties. Giovengo also is pursuing her doctor of nursing practice degree.

Barbara B. Rees, PhD, RN, has worked as a nurse for more than 30 years and as a nursing instructor and director of Georgia Highlands College’s nursing program for 31 years. Throughout her career, Dr. Rees has combined her love of education and nursing by working part-time as a nurse while teaching full-time. Now retired from academia, Dr. Rees remains dedicated to educating and developing new nurses as a preceptor for nursing students and new graduates at Redmond Regional Medical Center. She provides encouragement, professional expertise and resources like textbooks and tutoring to help nursing students and new nurses with their licensing exams, certification processes and the pursuit of advanced degrees.

Leah Farrell, BSN, RN, serves as a Clinical Scholar for students completing clinical rotations at Swedish Medical Center, guiding their clinical journeys and mentoring them after graduation. Farrell also started a neurology mentor program, helping train experienced nurses to serve as effective mentors for new nurses. In addition, she helped develop and implement multidisciplinary rounds in the neurology unit, bringing together the various people and departments who care for stroke victims, resulting in improved patient care and coordination among care providers. Farrell is enrolled in the adult/gerontology acute care nurse practitioner program at Walden University and has presented at the National Critical Care Nurses Association Conference and the American Academy of Neurology Institute national meeting.