CHA 2006 Healthcare Heroes Contest Essays

The theme for CHA's 2006 Healthcare Heroes essay contest was "Connecticut Hospitals: Connected to Community, Committed to Caring," with contest entrants provided compelling stories of how they and/or their co-workers answer the call of service to their communities every day.  

After a difficult selection process, ten winning essays were chosen.   The winners were recognized at CHA's 88th Annual Meeting on June 19, 2006 and received ten $100 prizes made possible in part by the sponsorship support of Nielsen Healthcare Group and Eastern Bag & Paper Company.   CHA featured excerpts from the winning essays in its 2006 Annual Report, and is pleased to be able to share the 10 winning essays in their entirety below:

Maria Frassinelli Sierra, Cancer Program Coordinator/Oncology Social Worker

Johnson Memorial Hospital

I have learned the impact of an individual on their community in a unique way. This is the story of how.

Although my education and training had been in oncology social work, I was, in 1999, working in a brain injury program. I missed working in oncology, but it wasn't until the summer of that year that I realized how much. That summer, my friend Keith was diagnosed with cancer. It was quickly determined that it was an advanced case of Esophageal Cancer and had already begun spreading.

I referred back to my oncology social work days and tried to assist him with researching a physician, treatment options, etc. I accompanied him to his first trip to New York City for the hope of finding a clinical trial. a miracle. anything. He fought hard for a year of intense chemotherapy regimens, radiation oncology and suffered through awful side effects, his wife, his parents, his children and loving family steadfastly by his side, and suffering as well.

Keith died in June of 2000. It was one of my saddest days. It was a sad day for a whole community because of the incredible uniqueness of this man. He was the type of person we all hope to be, kind and caring, generous to a fault, loving, eternally positive and living life to the fullest. Our community had lost one of its finest individuals and I had lost a dear, dear friend.

Throughout Keith's ordeal, I felt drawn to oncology again. Being reminded of the heart-wrenching struggle that it creates for a person, a family. it was more clear to me than ever how vital it is to have an advocate for that journey, to have a leader through the tangled maze of cancer treatment and all that it impacts.

The year following Keith's death, I return to oncology social work at Johnson Memorial Hospital's Phoenix Community Cancer Center. I am now coming up on 5 years and I have truly been blessed with my experiences there. The incredible patients and families who have allowed me along on their journey, good or bad. the dedicated and caring staff from whom I have witnessed great things. I have Keith to thank for leading me to where I know I should be. And there was more to thank him for.

After Keith's death, his wife and family began a memorial golf tournament fundraiser in his name and a few years ago, approached me about donating the funds to the Phoenix Community Cancer Center, appreciating the care Keith had received there at the end of his life. I was honored and humbled to accept donations in the name of my friend, for this place that was now my "home." It was truly a lesson in the interconnectedness of life.

The money that has been raised by the tournament and donated to the Center over the last few years has gone directly to the community he loved and that loved him. It has funded many patient and community programs including support groups, patient education, nutritional counseling for patients, free cancer prevention lecture series, free cancer screenings, health fairs, our Cancer Survivors Day and more. It has helped to provide vehicles for the community to learn about cancer, to take active steps to reduce their risk of cancer, and to help better manage cancer for those that are diagnosed.

Frances A. Gibbons-Clarke, Pediatric Registered Nurse

The Charlotte Hungerford Hospital

Herschel and Me

When two souls collide in time, by destiny on the same path, they are forever altered by the encounter. We as human.beings, possessing only by grace the gift of humanity, are inherently responsible and accountable to each other's souls. When that collision occurs, we -- by sheer possession of that gift -- have an obligation to enrich the other soul - to protect it-to advocate for it until the time our paths diverge. We continue down our path in anticipation of the next encounter, whilst always keeping a part of the last with us.

That's the way it was with Herschel and me. Our souls collided at CHH. He was at the end of his path; I was in my middle, and for a short time we were side by side.

Herschel was one of the most amazing human.beings I have ever met. Almost a year after his death, his thick German accent haunts me; I can still hear his voice in my head, yet it comforts me like a warm blanket.

It wasn't always that way with Herschel and me. In fact in the beginning he scared the hell out of me. New to CHH and fresh out of IV school via Sam and the fifth floor, I got the call I dreaded from Monica. "Fran, I have a transfusion for you - 2 units, platelets, and he needs an IV site." Becoming tachycardic and diaphoretic, my condition would only worsen when she told me his name: Herschel.

Herschel's reputation preceded him. I had heard of the old man that turned Medical-Ambulatory upside-down with his colorful explicatives and temper tantrums. He was part of CHH lore, right up there with Charlotte haunting Six South. As I felt the beads of sweat piling up on my forehead, the doorbell rang to Pedi.it was him. As he entered, I shakily introduced myself and escorted him to a room, gathered my IV equipment, and took his hand.

Multiple sticks later, my hair soaked with perspiration from nerves, the IV was in; but now I couldn't get the blood tubing to work.it wouldn't infuse. Anxiously I awaited his first temper tantrum on Pedi. which would never come. Herschel told me how to work the device - in fact he told me what the tubing was made of, how he used to work for B&D and how he made syringes and designed them. He knew I was scared of him.He knew I was a wreck, and he went out of his way at the end of the night to tell me I had done a good job. Although I was impressed with how well he lied with a straight face, I was relieved when he left and hoped I would never have to take care of him again.

One week later, in true Monica form, the call came again: "Two units, platelets, and he needs and IV site - It's Herschel." Son-of-a -----. Tachycardic, diaphoretic, I watched him come through the door, with my IV bucket in hand. This time he told me how to put the IV in. With his other hand he held his vein taut.My eyes wandered to his forearm.Bluish black blurry numbers emblazoned on his skin.As he caught my glance, he looked down. "Concentration camp."

My heart sank - I looked into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity.I felt my eyes transcending his, and I felt as if I was seeing his soul, and it was as though I was touching the hand of God, and I knew.I knew during that brief moment that our souls had collided, that our paths had crossed for a reason, and this collision would be life changing.

Herschel continued to come - His cancer treatments weakened his blood counts, and I saw him more - more than I wished I did. We talked a lot when he came, but mostly I listened. Listened about how he survived the Holocaust, painting and drawing pictures of the Nazi officers and their children, in exchange for survival.How his entire family died in the gas chambers.The day he was liberated.How he changed his name when he came to this country, to hide his Jewishness: a knee-jerk reaction engrained in him since childhood.

I listened about how he painted his way onto the landscape of American Impressionism.About his art, his studio, his travels.his loneliness. I listened to his anger over having to come here week after week after week - and about how he still had so much to do.to paint.to see. Herschel often remarked to me that he only wanted to live ten more years. He thought that was all the time he needed to do what he had left and wanted to do. He thought God owed him that after what he had been through during the first twenty years of his life. I thought God owed him that too.

When Herschel would come in, he was very tired, usually hungry, having spent half the day in Medical-Ambulatory, and he would usually spend the other half with me. I would order him dinner and make sure he had coffee. When he fell asleep waiting for his transfusion to be completed, I would cover him up with a blanket and smooth his gray hair back into his ponytail that no other eighty-year-old man could get away with; except Herschel. I took care of him, as I would have my own father. When he was on the floor he was my priority; by the gift of my own humanity, I owed that to him - I was compelled to do it.partly because we connected so solidly; partly because I was awestruck by his ability to rise from the ashes of the Holocaust to become who he was.mostly because I advocated for his existence. I validated Herschel's life, his existence, just by listening. I didn't have to go to Capitol Hill to advocate for him - I did it within the confines of a hospital room.

When I began to think about this essay, I thought about what I have done as a patient advocate that might have changed the course of a human life. Nothing I have ever done has led to either new legislation or policy; nor has it changed the course of medicine or nursing. What I have come to realize though is that I advocate every day on a smaller scale, and the most important way is yet so simple - validating human existence and recognition of the experiences of a lifetime that shape it - by just listening. It's the one thing we bring to nursing that really makes a difference. Conversely, it is the most difficult thing for us to do because we get so caught up in the task-orientedness of our job and we are always spread so thin.

Herschel needed to tell his story. His soul was young and vibrant, trapped within an aged, cancer-stricken body.he longed for me to see that. When I looked into his eyes, I saw a handsome, debonair young man with a shining soul, brand new - right out of the box.That happens only once in a life time. That's when you thank God you're a nurse.That's when you know you've made a difference.That's when you know, without a doubt, despite adversity, the human spirit triumphs.

Herschel came to see me about a month before he died.worn, tired, his body making a run for his spirit. Before he closed his eyes to sleep, he looked up at me and said, "Fran.you are such a beautiful person." As I kissed him on the cheek, I said, "No, Herschel - you are beautiful."

A month later I went down to see him on the fifth floor.he was moaning, his eyes glazed over and dull - death was imminent. I held his hand and called his name.he squeezed my hand. With tear-strewn cheeks I told him I loved him and that I would never forget him. He died the next day.

Jackie Robinson, one of the greatest baseball players of all time had inscribed on his tombstone, "It is not a single life that is as important, it is the difference it makes in others." I did make a difference - there was no more that I could have asked from myself. Ironically, in the end, Herschel made the bigger difference. And so our paths came full circle - we had both fulfilled our obligations that come with humanity. I was responsible and accountable for his soul, and he to mine; and although he has left my path for now, by virtue of the intensity of the collision, I know they will cross again.

Lea Gostyla, Nursing Supervisor

UCONN Health Center/John Dempsey Hospital

I believe there are angels among us.

June 2005, I was working as a nurse in the operating room at UCONN Health Center. I was scrubbed on a case, ready to do a simple procedure. Just as the patient was being wheeled into the room, I was putting the scope together. I glanced up, and realized something strange was going on with my vision. I managed to get out of the room and luckily one of our neurosurgeons was sitting in the lounge. He recognized the signs of a stroke, and off to the ER I went.

I had a very minor stroke, the kind that if you simply must have a stroke, this was the one to have. Although I experienced several days of aphasia, I was promised the symptoms would go away, and luckily, that did happen. I spent several days in ICU and a few more on the floor.

I was scheduled to go home and waited all that morning for the docs to arrive. I was very anxious to go home as my youngest daughter was graduating from middle school at 7 p.m. As it got later in the day, we made alternative plans so my daughter would be at school on time, and I could go there, too. My husband was home getting her ready for this big day and two of my girlfriends had agreed to pick me up, deliver me home to bathe and change, and then they would deliver me to her school. As the minutes turned to hours and no doctors appeared, I began to get more and more anxious.

I called the nursing station repeatedly. They were extremely busy and basically told me I had no choice but to wait for the doctors. By 5:30 p.m. I picked up the phone and called the neuro clinic myself, only to discover the clinic was closed. As 6 p.m. approached, after making another plea to my nurse, I decided perhaps I should just sign out AMA. I was now running out of time to even get home and shower before going to the ceremony. It was at this moment that my angel appeared.

Joanne Neumann, RN, a case manager at the hospital, walked in and, utilizing her keen nursing observational skills, she noted that I was upset. I gave her the quick version, and she held up one finger and came back in moments later. She informed me she had paged the neuro resident on call and told him to get up here ASAP. About 5 minutes later I saw him arrive, two medical students in tow, and they proceeded to sit down at the desk and begin a conversation with a couple of other residents. Joanne walked over, took my doc by the arm and gently led him straight to my room, chart and discharge papers in hand. She had a wheelchair for me, instructed my friends to go get the car and pull up to the front, and set about making my discharge happen right then and there. She never stopped smiling and gave me a hug before I was whisked off the unit in time to make my daughter's speech and to see her receive the school's religious award, an unexpected award. Her speech was the only one that received a standing ovation. How terrible if I had missed that! Joanne Neumann, RN, Case Manager, nurse with a heart and soul and a glorious smile, made that happen for me. For me, in that moment of need to see my child receive her award and to make that touching speech, Joanne delivered the best nursing care I needed. She cared, and that was all I needed in that moment.

So you see, there really are angels among us..

Derri Hamilton, RN, BSN, Assistant Nurse Manager

Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center

The patients in behavioral health suffer in many profound ways. They commonly have complex psychiatric illnesses, which are poorly understood in our society. Psychiatric patients are marginalized, stigmatized, and so often relegated to the sidelines and shadows of the community. Socioeconomic problems compound the difficulties our patients have in accessing care and feeling a sense of acceptance and belonging. Our patients arrive with hearts, minds, and spirits filled with pain, fear, rejection, neglect, trauma, and grief.

As psychiatric nurses, we know this every day in our nursing care. Research confirms this "knowing." Messages of "you're not normal" abound in our patients' world. "Take this medication to be normal" is an underlying source of shame and alienation in this vulnerable population. And so, our nursing care centers upon acceptance, instilling hope and pride and dignity through the vehicle of a caring relationship, and promoting a sense of worth and dignity, whatever the past may have held.

Enter the 7 West Healing Cart (Developed and implemented by Derri Hamilton, RN, BSN, Assistant Nurse Manager.)

Imagine the experience of a dually diagnosed female patient, homeless and suicidal, admitted with no possessions, disheveled and without hope for the future. Through the Healing Cart, she begins to access a long lost sense of worth, a tiny flicker of hope as she showers and uses nice toiletries; smelling perfume on her wrists for the first time in years. She's wearing clean clothing she has "purchased" and she's beginning to appreciate that face in the mirror as she applies moisturizer and some make-up! How long since this parched face felt cared for? "Hmmmm. perhaps I'm not so ugly after all." Next, she's choosing and "buying" some gifts for the kids and perhaps a snack for later. Or the male patient, soon to be discharged and planning to go to a job interview for the first time in a very long time. "Go on, try it on," I say to him as he eyes the suit suspiciously. It is a beautifully hand-pressed classic suit. He is not at all sure. "That sort of thing is for other folks," he's thinking. But I am very persuasive! Perhaps he'll just try it on to get me off his back! Just for the interview of course. Soon he's seeing himself. transformed. "I'd really hire this guy!" he acknowledges with a smile.

The 7 West Healing Cart is a powerful vehicle to support our patients' experiences of being valued and accepted during their stay. Twice a week patients participate in this activity, purchasing items ranging from books, magazines, toys/games to toiletries, make-up, jewelry, and snack/candy/treats. The merchandise has expanded to include cleaned/pressed donated clothing, shoes and other basic need items. I purchase some of the items with my own money, but incredible donations come in regularly from employees throughout Behavioral Health and beyond. Everyone wants to support such a worthy cause.

The Healing Cart is a wonderfully positive and uplifting experience for both patients and staff. "You've brought Filene's into the hospital," exclaimed one patient.

The Healing Cart serves on many levels. We are in the process of collecting data to clarify the themes that we believe to be so fundamental and therapeutic. This activity provides a fun and stimulating "normalizing experience" for our patients. The message becomes "You're worthy. you can choose. you deserve something nice."

Patients receive Healing Cart money (known in the finance world as Derry Dollars!) and can make choices, negotiate deals/discounts and have good old-fashioned fun! This process affirms our patients' core sense of self, their worth and dignity, personal empowerment to choose/make decisions and take control. Making what may seem like a small purchase is an extremely significant and powerful event in the life of an individual who expects nothing and trusts no one. These are incremental steps toward the human experience of acceptance, belonging, and deserving. Purchased items can also serve as positive "transitional objects" after discharge: a reminder of a positive treatment experience; a healing relationship with caring and empathetic nursing staff. Participation in the Healing Cart also supports patient involvement in their treatment plan, as patients are encouraged and inspired to maintain activities of daily living, hygiene, group attendance, etc.

We receive very positive comments about the Healing Cart from discharged patients on Press-Ganey questionnaires. Our data collection via interviews and Press-Ganey comments will allow modification in the future.

As psychiatric nurses we constantly strive to enter our patients' world and find ways to communicate hope and appreciation of each human being's unique value. Tuesday and Friday mornings arrive. Everyone is waiting! From the creative therapy room the Healing Cart beckons; "You're worthy." "You're normal." "You deserve this."

In addition to providing hope for our psychiatric patients, I am also actively involved in my church (Grace Baptist Church in Waterbury, Connecticut). I am the Vice President of both the Caring and Sharing Group and the PTA group.

The Caring and Sharing group focuses on the sick and shut-in members of the Church. On holidays we provide them with special gifts, like fruit baskets, goody bags, flowers, etc. And once a year, during the summer, we have a special event for them at the church, which consists of good and good fun. This provides them with the opportunity to come out and spend time with their church family.

The PTA group focuses on the youth of the church providing them with educational programs, like teaching them proper etiquette, when and how to fill out SATs, graduation programs, etc. while supporting them in whatever educational endeavors they choose to embark upon.

I am also a member of the Wellness Ministry, where I have been instrumental in providing medical information by way of speakers and pamphlets. I was able to recruit one of my colleagues to provide a Friends and Family CPR class for the members of my church, and the community, and also coordinated and provided a luncheon seminar on depression, presented by a Psychiatrist and an RN, who were also colleagues of mine. I have also volunteered at an educational fair (given by the Professional Business Women, held at Grace Baptist Church), distributing medical information to the community.

I have volunteered and donated food to a Waterbury soup kitchen and The Grace Baptist Church Senior Center, where I enjoy spending time with the senior citizens of my church and surrounding community.

I enjoy helping others and have a great passion for what I do. As a nurse, we are in the business of caring for others. I want to make sure that the care I provide my patients as well as those that I serve in the community is the best that it could be!!!

Lee Monroe, Director of Public Relations

Hartford Hospital

Patty Veronneau, RN, MSN, spends her "leisure" time doing for the community what she does for her patients. The distinction between caring for people in the hospital and caring for neighbors and friends was long ago blurred for this dedicated nurse. It's as if her approach to her professional responsibilities and her instinctive need to give both spring from the same source.

This is what Patty does when she's off duty:

She has organized and worked in blood drives all around the state. She located a group of women "stitchers" who are now creating baby items that Patty brings into the nursery on a weekly basis so that every baby gets a hand-knit cap, and often a hand-knit blanket as well. Five years ago Patty connected with the Matchbox Association, and now she distributes matchbox cars in the ED both at Hartford Hospital and at CCMC. Through the Friends of Assisi Food Pantry, she helps to coordinate food drives, coats for the poor and Thanksgiving food baskets for more than 250 people. For over 10 years she has supported Pierce Baptist Convalescent Home both individually and with her family, in order to "instill a sense of community" in her children. Together they volunteer at the convalescent home running bingo games, playing music, visiting, making centerpieces for the holidays and doing whatever else is needed. She can always be counted on to help a grieving neighbor, get sick friends and relatives to the doctor and help them get the medications they need, and even to set one of her children to work making books on tape for a neighbor who is losing her sight.

"Patty is usually juggling two or three projects to serve her community," says Laura Caramanica, VP of Nursing at Hartford Hospital. "She has an extraordinary way of finding out about unmet community needs that are surfacing. She inspires and enlists her colleagues to share in her joy of giving."

In that part of her life where caring and compassion are officially part of the job, Patty is a night and weekend manager/Nurse Coordinator at Hartford Hospital. She is one of those unsung heroes who hold down the fort while the rest of us sleep, a healthcare professional who gives up any semblance of a normal life in order to handle all of the emergencies, traumas, staffing issues, family crises, set-backs and turns-for-the-worst that seem to come in the night, or when no one else is around. When identifying a healthcare hero, you need look no further than those people who nearly single-handedly (or so it seems) keep off-shift and weekend care in crowded hospital units functioning smoothly and effectively.

This is Patty's e-mail summary of a recent night at Hartford Hospital:

".extremely busy night. One ICU and one step down being held in the PACU, two telemetry and one step down being held in the ED, labor and delivery has been choc full, with one mom being moved to 10E for possible pulmonary embolus, four hearts, three earlies will go, 1 cardiac arrest in C9WI and resp in 11 I. will page Beth Lawlor shortly to alert her of no beds and to get her team activated. thank you, patty."

What is not apparent in this brief description is the extraordinary extent to which Patty connects with her patients, empathizing with their situation and making sure that everyone on her crowded watch is supported humanely and attentively. "Patty's total investment in people, and her sensitivity to their distress, makes her one of the most compassionate nurses we have," says her colleague Pepper Sobieski. "It springs from her own personal sense of obligation. She gives up a lot of her time to make sure that patients and families in distress are supported, that access to the sick family member is assured, and that they all have a clear understanding of what's going on."

Living as she does some distance from Hartford, Patty nevertheless makes sure that she's at the hospital when she's needed. During snowstorms and in other situations that might make commuting difficult, Patty stays on campus to make sure that she's available the next day. Her old-fashioned sense of responsibility is not something that can be taught.

"Patty personifies selflessness," says Hartford Hospital's President and CEO, John Meehan. "Her sole motivation is to do what is best for the patient, family or staff member she is serving. And that is her perspective: service on behalf of the institution. She strives for excellence in her concern for others. Her job is demanding - she has enormous responsibilities. She carries out the role with competence, professionalism and a service ethic that is remarkable."

What may make her a healthcare hero to her fellow nurses, though, is her habit of always finding a way to acknowledge the little day-to-day acts of her colleagues. She'll notice a moment of kindness or caring, a thoughtful act or an above-and-beyond response to a patient's needs and she'll make sure that those in charge hear about it. "She's always the first to tell someone else that they did a great job," says Pepper. "It's a great morale booster for our front-line staff."

Concetta Savino, Registered Nurse

Yale-New Haven Hospital

It's not about living and dying, it's about enjoying every second of life.

It's about crying so hard and laughing even louder.

It's not all about doctors and nurses, it's about clowns too you know!

It's about leaving your stethoscope outside the room so that you can play Nintendo.

It's about knowing when to hold out your hand just so four tiny fingers can squeeze one of yours until it goes numb.

It's about jumping on your bed, because mommy won't yell, and blowing bubbles in daddy's face.

It's not about pushing IV poles, its about pulling wagons into every room but your own.

It's about those things we can fix, like dehydration or a broken bone, and things we can't fix, like cancer and cystic fibrosis.

It's the simple things like showing Morgan how to draw a heart; and somber things when you find out seven days later she'll never draw another.

It's about heaven and God and knowing he will watch over those children we can no longer see.

Katherine J. Smith, Program Manager, Violence & Injury Prevention

Ruthann Mandelbaum, Administrative Coordinator, Department of Surgery

Julia Bromley, Secretary III, Department of Surgery

Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center

Winston Churchill once stated that "courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." By this standard, Dr. Anthony S. Morgan demonstrates his courage in a quiet and humbled way every day. Dr. Morgan is a healthcare hero, not because of a singular act, but because of a lifelong commitment of compassion and kindness to those from all walks of life. He obviously has touched many lives with his surgical skill in the 21 years where he served as Trauma Program Director and Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center. He reaches patients, healing the body with compassion, knowing that their spirit must be also tended to after enduring such a trauma. But more than that, Dr. Morgan quietly touches lives within the hospital and within the larger community through his actions. He can often be found quietly paying for other people's lunches in the cafeteria, inviting someone into his office if they are confronted with a personal problem, and treating all staff as colleagues, regardless of position or education, with the same amount of respect and professionalism. Through countless acts of kindness in which he neither wants nor expects recognition, he consistently has offered his time and experience to reach many people throughout Connecticut. He regularly demonstrates mock trauma to high school students that attend the "Let's Not Meet by Accident" Program as a forum to help them make healthy choices in risky situations. In speaking at Weaver High School, Dr. Morgan bravely shares his own experiences of violence growing up in his community, speaking of his gang involvement and how he himself had both been shot and stabbed. He inspires students who may face similar struggles as he did as a youth to reach their full potential. He donates microscopes to Buckley High School to foster a love for medicine and science to inner city Connecticut students. Dr. Morgan is a career speaker at Manchester High School and the Sports Medical Science Academy. He is a tireless advocate for the KISS-CT carseat program that offers free carseats to low-income families and willingly offered his time to attend a community fair to do "teddy bear clinic" to help younger children be less afraid of going to their health care provider.

In addition to numerous individual acts, however, there are two examples from the past year that clearly demonstrate that Tony Morgan is a man who is extraordinary in his commitment to the health and wellbeing of our community and should be considered a "CHA Healthcare Hero." The first is Dr. Morgan's commitment to community outreach. In finding that Dr. Morgan was being nominated for the CHA Healthcare Hero Award, Brian Leaming, Assistant United States Attorney with the US Department of Justice, was eager to share his firsthand knowledge of the impact Dr. Morgan has: "Several years ago, the President initiated the anti-gun violence program Project Safe Neighborhood. Community outreach is part of the project. Every month representatives from law enforcement and various community and educational organizations make a presentation to offenders. Offenders are individuals from Hartford, and surrounding communities, who are on probation or have recently been released on parole. The presentation serves as a warning and education about firearms laws as well as an opportunity to provide information regarding educational and employment opportunities. Last year, we asked Dr. Morgan to speak at our monthly meetings about his background and the obstacles he encountered as a child, as well as his experience treating victims of gunshot injuries. He graciously agreed and continues to speak at our monthly presentations.  The offenders are required to attend and often are not the most attentive of audiences. Dr. Morgan is able to connect with many of the offenders, based on his background and first-hand observations of the finality and devastation inflicted by gun violence." He does this on his own time without recognition or compensation.

In October, he participated in a "Silent Witness" event that honored those who had been killed by domestic violence. He shared his own experiences of witnessing domestic violence as a child to give comfort to those who have lost a loved one, to encourage health care providers to screen patients for violence, as well as provide hope to those who continue to experience violence in their home.

Those in the audience were visibly touched by his tenderness, genuineness and ability to show his vulnerability in an effort to touch others. Ironically, when the father of a woman who was being honored at the event spoke, he shared that Dr. Morgan was the traumatologist that treated his daughter Tasha the night she was killed. While he remembered the attempts Dr. Morgan made as a surgeon to help his daughter recover from her injuries, he most fondly remembered the tenderness his family felt from Dr. Morgan when his daughter passed. He spoke of the healing Dr. Morgan had done with him and his family even when his daughter's injuries could not be healed.

Dr. Morgan is the living example of courage. He listens with empathy, he stands up and speaks to advocate for others and issues that make a difference. He has found the inner strength to be an example to those in healthcare, those in the community, and children and adolescents who live in violence, by touching lives in spite of overwhelming obstacles he has personally faced. For all his efforts, in a recent program, he modestly gave his mother the credit for inspiring him to do these acts that we consider to be heroic, "because there's a little lady in heaven who wants me to do this.because it's what I am supposed to do. Whether it's painful or not, this is what I am supposed to do."

It is with great honor that we nominate Anthony S. Morgan, MD, for the Connecticut Hospital Association 2006 Healthcare Hero award. He recently stated in a program, "I love what I do and I can't imagine not being a traumatologist. I can't imagine not taking care of people."

Jane Sullivan, RN, ICU

John Dempsey Hospital

I would like to share an experience I had recently with an employee here at John Dempsey Hospital, who I believe is truly a "healthcare hero." The employee is a Social Worker named Deb Feigenbaum. On June 18, 2005, she made a difference in a family's life forever.

I am a nurse in the ICU. I received a call from the ER to admit a critically ill patient. I had known this patient because he had just been discharged 2 days prior. He was a young man of only 37 years who had just been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. He had a beautiful wife and two young girls, ages 5 and 7. He came into the ER that day with bleeding in the brain and seizures. He was admitted to the ICU on a ventilator to die.

There was nothing that could be done. He and his wife did not even get a chance to tell their little girls that their dad had cancer. No one expected things to take a turn for the worse so quickly. This is where a very special person came into play.

Although I had never met Deb Feigenbaum before, I knew after this day how gifted she is and how much of an impact she had on this family in this most difficult situation. Although the wife of this patient did not intend to bring her girls in to see their dad before he died, Deb encouraged her strongly to do so. She reassured her that she would help her step by step to explain to these little girls about how their dad is sick and is going to die.

These beautiful little girls needed a chance to say goodbye, and to tell their daddy they loved him. Deb came in on this Saturday to make a difference in these people's lives. She clearly went above and beyond. Deb helped this patient's wife get through this day and helped her to make some very difficult decisions. Deb was here for hours assisting this family. By the end of the day and the end of the patient's life, there was not a dry eye in the unit. To hear the two little girls crying, saying goodbye to their adoring dad was heartbreaking to say the least.

Thanks to Deb, who knew just the right thing to do and took the time and special skill to help make the difference in this family's life and has impacted mine and all those who were involved. I hope that she will be recognized and commended for the very special role she played. She is truly a special person.

Lucille Taylor, Nursing Director

New Britain General Hospital

I am continually amazed and heart warmed by stories of people coming together as a community to rescue someone in need during a crisis. The following is one such story of how a group of healthcare workers reached out to "one of their own" in a time of tragedy and became her heroes.

Catherine, a travel nurse from Kenya, is one of my nurses on E2, a 15-bed medical surgical unit at New Britain General Hospital. Catherine's dedication and compassion have endeared her to both the patients she cares for and the staff who work alongside of her. On March 16 th , while working on E2, she received word from one of her daughters living in Kenya that her husband had been shot in the robbery of his business. A customer with whom her husband had been at the time was shot and killed and Catherine's husband was in grave condition. This horrific event had been witnessed by Catherine's daughter, who had not been injured during the robbery. Catherine immediately informed Mary Marrocco, my clinical manager on E2.

Mary is one of the most remarkable women I have the privilege of knowing as a colleague and a friend. She quickly assessed Catherine's information and realized this nurse needed to be on her way home to Kenya. However, Mary was aware of Catherine's limited funds. You see, Catherine and her husband have seven children. Two of the children had come to the United States to live with her and the remaining five were living with her husband in Kenya. Word of Catherine's crisis quickly spread on the unit and in the short amount of time it took to get the word out, Mary was able to collect over nine hundred dollars towards Catherine's plane fare home to Kenya. As for Catherine's two teenage children who were living with her in Connecticut, well Mary already had a plan in place to care for them. She became guardian and caretaker of these children until Catherine's sister could arrive from out of state.

While Mary was making sure that the children in her care remained safe, she received word from Catherine's family that Catherine's husband had died form his gunshot wounds. Tragically, Catherine was en route to Kenya when he died. Mary realized that the children needed to be told about their father's death. Mary did not shy away from this burdensome task. She is a woman of great depth and compassion who found the words to tell Catherine's children of the loss of their father. I can only imagine how painful this had to be for Mary to share such sorrowful news with these children. Soon, their family arrived from out of state and they made arrangements for the children to fly home for their father's funeral.

The staff of E2 was devastated and felt totally helpless. In their attempt to once again reach out as a community to Catherine and her family in Kenya, they decided that raising money for her and her children would be the most helpful. But Mary had a better idea. While she was caring for Catherine's children she had the opportunity to see where they lived. Catherine had just moved into her new residence only about a week before she had to leave for Kenya and had not had time to unpack. Mary also knew that Catherine was returning with five children, the two teenagers who had been living with her and now the three youngest who no longer had their father to care for them. With this in mind, Mary rallied the staff on E2 and turned their sense of grief and helplessness into creating an "extreme makeover" for Catherine and her children. Nurses, nursing technicians, unit secretaries, nurse case managers, social workers, and other traveling nurses who work on E2 donated furniture, curtains, rugs, dishes, linens, and whatever else was needed. Others scrubbed floors and walls, spackled and painted to make this house into a home. Mary was even able to talk one of Catherine's neighbors into helping out with needed repairs. Some of the staff brought along their family and friends to help out.

One of the nurses, a travel nurse from Canada, found a picture of Catherine's husband in an article that had been written about him. He was a musician as well as a businessman and had won a Bronze medal for Kenya in boxing at the Munich Olympics. This nurse cut out his picture and placed it in a frame with the inscription "remembered forever" written under his picture. This picture sits on the mantle in the living room.

Catherine arrives home tomorrow and one of the nurses will be picking her up at Bradley Airport. Today, we filled her refrigerator and cupboards with their favorite foods. A small group of us plan to greet Catherine when she comes home. The staff still wishes to raise money and Mary has already started to collect a significant amount. This money will help support Catherine until she comes back to work next week.

As I stated in the beginning of this story, I am continually amazed and heart warmed by people's generous response to someone in a time of need. As the Nursing Director of E2, I am both humbled and proud of my staff's overwhelming generosity and their ability to come together as a community and reach out to a nurse from a community across the world. They transformed their grief and sense of helplessness into actions from the heart. These extraordinary individuals, led by a clinical manager whose compassion and kindness knows no boundaries, have brought hope into a life shattered by tragedy. They are truly healthcare heroes.

Catherine Wade, Nurse Manager

Middlesex Hospital Shoreline Medical Center

I would like to nominate Rhonda Forristall, RN for the Healthcare Heroes award for 2006. Rhonda Forristall has worked for Middlesex Hospital for 28 years, mainly in the Emergency Department (ED). She is a dedicated employee who gives everything she does 150% while juggling a number of activities. She has served on a number of task forces and councils for the hospital, which include: Unit Based Nursing Council, Professional Development Council, and Triage Committee.

She is extremely active, not only in her role as a staff nurse in the ED, but with creating and carrying out programs for the community. Rhonda has always had a focus on people within the local community, especially children and teenagers. Several years ago, Rhonda felt compelled to do something herself to help with the anticipated nursing shortage. She immediately formed a committee to develop what is known today as "Career Day." She wanted to spark some interest in nursing with local high school students. She created a day where high school students could come with their guidance counselors to learn about the healthcare field. Rhonda rounded up a number of healthcare professionals from the Middlesex Hospital Shoreline Medical Center to help, including a physician, nine nurses, three radiology techs, one ultrasound tech, two phlebotomists, a paramedic, a physical therapist, and the facility coordinator. This 4-hour event consists of a staged scenario of a patient in a trauma situation where the physician and ED nurses describe what they would do for the patient. The students then follow all systems that would be involved in the care for that patient. Students receive hands-on experience in as many aspects as possible - allowing them the maximum exposure to get a good feel for what it is like in the real world of healthcare. This past year, the Career Day hosted 14 students from 5 different school districts. Rhonda is so dedicated to making this experience the best possible, that she has taken her own time to visit another hospital to see what other kinds of programs and activities are offered that may also be beneficial to optimize her already established Career Day. The program has been so successful that it has been publicized in Advance for Nurses, Nursing Spectrum, and Journal for Emergency Nursing as well as in several local papers.

Rhonda has also stepped up to the plate to serve students from Old Saybrook High School who are interested in the "World of Work Day" program. Rhonda comes in on her day off to spend four hours with these students, reviewing a number of different areas - Emergency Department, Laboratory, Endoscopy and Outpatient Infusion. She has been so dedicated to this day, that when she hasn't heard from the school by a certain date, she contacts them to make sure they still have interest.

This year, Rhonda worked with the Haddam-Killingworth High School guidance counselor to create a program where three students could come to the emergency department three times per week to observe, volunteer, and participate in the environment. She developed this program going through a number of steps to be sure appropriate information was in place for both the school as well as the institution. The program was created between Rhonda and the guidance counselor with administrative support from our institution. Rhonda is required to write up evaluations on the students twice during the internship and meets with the counselor to review the program and make recommended changes. She worked with the hospital's volunteer liaison to orient these as volunteers. They now clearly know their responsibilities and what tasks they can help with. This program is new as of February, and has worked extremely well. The emergency department staff really enjoy having the students there as a resource and the students really enjoy coming to learn about a field that they have expressed future interest in. Most recently, Rhonda has expanded their exposure, based on the individual's interest, to the lab and the surgical center.

Rhonda is an extraordinary individual who goes above and beyond the call of duty as an emergency room nurse. She demonstrates compassion and kindness and has limitless energy when interacting with and for the community. She has created a positive experience for many students who have an interest in the healthcare arena. I am sure that her efforts will entice some of these young students to pursue their dreams in the healthcare world.

We are so very proud of Rhonda's initiatives and dedication to assisting with the anticipated nursing shortage that will certainly impact all of us. She gives endlessly, willingly, and without hesitation. She certainly deserves the recognition for her highly motivated enthusiasm for the institution, as well as for the community.

CHA salutes all of this year’s Healthcare Heroes essay contest winners, as well as the thousands of incredibly dedicated and talented healthcare workers across Connecticut for all that they do for their communities.