Healthcare Heroes
Healthcare Heroes
3rd Annual Healthcare Heroes Awards
HERO (n.) a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
When BusinessWest and Healthcare News launched Healthcare Heroes in 2017, there was no doubt this was a long-overdue award program in Western Mass. — in fact, we knew the challenge wouldn’t be finding quality nominations, but choosing just a handful to honor each year. Indeed, this year’s judges (see below) carefully studied about 100 different nominees in seven categories to choose the impressive group to be honored at this year’s gala in October.
Collectively, they are innovators and game changers in the region’s rich and vibrant healthcare community, and their stories — told on the following pages — reveal large quantities of energy, imagination, compassion, entrepreneurship, forward thinking, and dedication to the community.
There are eight winners in this third class, with two in the category of Lifetime Achievement, because two candidates were tied with the top score. The Heroes for 2019 are:
• Lifetime Achievement (tie): Katherine Wilson, president and CEO, Behavioral Health Network Inc.; and Frank Robinson, vice president, Public Health, Baystate Health;
• Health/Wellness Administrator/Administration: Emily Uguccioni, executive director, Linda Manor Assisted Living;
• Collaboration in Health/Wellness: Carol Constant, convener, Dementia Friendly Western Massachusetts; and director of Community Engagement, Loomis Communities;
• Community Health: Amy Walker, certified nurse midwife, Cooley Dickinson Health Care;
• Emerging Leader: Tara Ferrante, program director of the Holyoke Outpatient Clinic, ServiceNet;
• Innovation in Health/Wellness: Cristina Huebner Torres, vice president, Research & Population Health, Caring Health Center Inc.; and
• Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider: Shriners Hospitals for Children – Springfield.
3rd Annual Healthcare Heroes Gala
Thursday, October 17, 2019
5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
Sheraton Springfield One Monarch Place Hotel
$90/person; $900/table of 10
PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
View the 2019 Healthcare Heroes Program Guide Flipbook HERE
Submit nominations for 2020 consideration HERE
Deadline to submit nominations is July 10, 2020, 5 p.m. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Presenting Sponsor
Partner Sponsors
Supporting Sponsor
3rd Annual Healthcare Heroes
Scenes from the Healthcare Heroes 2018 Gala
Passion is the word that defines these heroes. And it was on clear display Oct. 25 at the Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden, site of the Healthcare Heroes Gala. Go HERE to view the 2018 Healthcare Heroes Program Guide.
This was the second such gala. The event was a huge success, not because of the venue (although that was a factor) or the views (although they certainly helped), but because of the accomplishments, the dedication, and, yes, the passion being relayed from the podium.
The Healthcare Heroes Sponsors for 2018:
American International College and Baystate Health/Health New England are presenting sponsors for Healthcare Heroes 2018. Additional sponsors are National Grid, partner sponsor, and Elms College MBA Program, Renew.Calm, Bay Path University, and Trinity Health Of New England/Mercy Medical Center as supporting sponsors.
The Healthcare Heroes for 2018 are:
Mary Paquette
Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider:
Mary Paquette, director of Health Services/nurse practitioner, American International College
Celeste Surreira
Health/Wellness Administrator/ Administrator:
Celeste Surreira, assistant director of Nursing, the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke
Peter A. DePergola II
Emerging Leader:
Peter DePergola II, director of Clinical Ethics, Baystate Health
The Consortium and the Opioid Task Force
Collaboration in Health/ Wellness:
The Consortium and the Opioid Task Force
Meet the Judges
There were more than 70 nominations across seven categories for the Healthcare Heroes Class of 2018. Scoring these nominations was a difficult task that fell to three individuals, including two members of the Class of 2017, with extensive backgrounds in health and wellness. They are:
Holly Chaffee, MSN, BSN, RN: Winner in the Healthcare Heroes Health/Wellness Administrator/Administration category in 2107, Chaffee is president and CEO of VNA Care, a subsidiary of Atrius Health. Formerly (and when she was named a Healthcare Hero) she was the president and CEO of Porchlight VNA/Homecare, based in Lee.
Dexter Johnson: A long-time administrator with the Greater Springfield YMCA, Johnson was named president and CEO of that Y, one of the oldest in the country, in the fall of 2017. He started his career at the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA, and, after a stint at YMCA of the USA, he came to the Springfield Y earlier this decade as senior vice president and chief operating officer.
Dr. Michael Willers: Winner in the Patient/Resident/Client-care Provider category in 2017, Willers is co-owner of the Children’s Heart Center of Western Mass. Formerly a pediatric cardiologist with Baystate Children’s Hospital, he founded the Children’s Heart Center of Western Mass. in 2012
Healthcare Heroes 2017 Celebration
Healthcare Heroes 2017 Event
October 20, 2017
Scenes from the October 2017 Gala Photos by Dani Fine Photography There were more than 70 nominations for the inaugural Healthcare Heroes class, and each
Healthcare Heroes Nomination Information & Criteria
Helpful Tips
As you consider the award categories, please keep in mind the following guidelines in preparing your nomination:
- Criteria: The criteria for the award and how the nominee fits the criteria for the chosen category
- Accomplishments: What is/are the nominee’s specific accomplishment(s) and how were they achieved
- Impact: What measurable impact the nominee has had on the population served in the health and wellness community
- Unique: Is there anything else that makes the nominee exceptional or unique? Provide any other information that will aid in the judges’ consideration of the nomination
Categories
(Click on each category to go to it’s nomination form)
- Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider
- Innovation in Health/Wellness
- Community Health
- Emerging Leader
- Collaboration in Health/Wellness
- Health/Wellness Administration/Administrator
- Lifetime Achievement
Judging
The judging process will commence July 2019 and be completed by end of July 2019. If more than one nomination is received for a particular nominee, BusinessWest, in its sole discretion, may consider any or all of the nominations for that individual in the judging process. Nominees cannot serve as awards judges.
All eligible nominations received will be judged by a panel of health care industry experts whose evaluations will determine winners of the “Healthcare Heroes” Awards from among the nominees under consideration. The selection of award winners will be final and binding and are not subject to appeal or reconsideration of any kind.
Nominations
Nominations must be submitted via the designated online form. Mail-in nominations will not be accepted. Nominations may be submitted beginning January 2019 and must be received no later than 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, July 12, 2019. BusinessWest will verify the factual basis of the submitted nominations and may request substantiating information from nominees or others. BusinessWest reserves the right to request and require additional information from nominees in order to have their nomination considered. False, deceptive, or unsubstantiated nominations or acts may render a nominee ineligible. All nomination forms become the property of BuisnessWest and will not be returned.
Notification and Recognition
BusinessWest plans to notify the winners of the “Healthcare Heroes” Awards by July 31, 2019 and will be profiled in the September 2 edition of BusinessWest and September issue of HCN. Winners will be invited to attend the “Healthcare Heroes” Awards gala scheduled for Thursday, October 17 at Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel.
Eligibility
- Nominees must work in either Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, or Berkshire county and organization nominees must have offices in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin or Berkshire county (may be for-profit or not-for-profit).
- Nominations may be self-nominated or nominated by another person.
- Nominees cannot be a member of the judges’ panel or member of the judges’ immediate family.
Award Category Descriptions
(Click on each category to go to it’s nomination form)
Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider
Who is eligible: Company or organization which has shown leadership and excellent service over a sustained period of time by providing quality care, and is considered exemplary by patients and peers.
Judging Criteria: The judges will be looking for evidence of high quality care and continuous improvement. Successful submissions should also demonstrate an area of going above and beyond in terms of training, new programs, best practices, and staff/service user engagement.
Innovation in Health/Wellness
Who is eligible: A company, organization, individual, or group of individuals responsible for development of a new procedure, treatment, program or service that can save lives or improve quality of life. The award may be given for either new innovations or for the refining of existing procedures, treatments, programs or services.
Judging Criteria: The innovation should be expansive in scope so that it now, or could in the future, affect many people’s lives. The application should provide information on the size of the target population and the potential dollar value of the market.
Community Health
Who is eligible: Company, organization, individual, or group of individuals responsible for promoting healthy living, bringing attention to a health/wellness issue, or solving a problem through community outreach.
Judging Criteria: Impact on the community, fulfilling a need otherwise not met in the community.
Examples but are not limited to: Community education efforts, donation of facility resources for community use, outreach to at-risk youth, volunteer service projects, events and activities designed to address local community needs.
Emerging Leader
Who is eligible: Individual, early in their career, who is making a significant impact in the health/wellness industry, exemplifying true leadership, and acting as a role model for others.
Judging Criteria: The judges will be looking for an individual who is rising through the ranks and establishing themselves as future leaders in the health/wellness industry. The winner of this award will be someone who outshines their peers in many ways and helps their organization surpass the competition.
Collaboration in Health/Wellness
Who is eligible: Two or more entities which demonstrate creative and effective collaborations for the purpose of addressing significant health and wellness needs or common problems and standards in community.
Judging Criteria: The judges will be looking for evidence of excellence in strategic collaborations promoting cooperation, sharing of resources and expertise and mutual support with a focus on outcomes, value and initiatives. Effective elimination of organizational silos and promotion of more holistic approaches to care and service.
Health/Wellness Administration/Administrator
Who is eligible: Individual, or group of individuals, whose performance, care and leadership is considered exemplary by patients and peers.
Judging Criteria: Increased efficiency in the delivery of services, increased employee morale, improved profitability.
Lifetime Achievement
Who is eligible: Individual who has dedicated their career to improving the quality and delivery of healthcare in the Western Mass. community. This person should have at least 20 years in the health/wellness field.
Judging Criteria: A lifetime career in the health care field, making an impact through care, either by the number of people affected or the scope of his/her contributions, dedication to his/her field.
Submitting multiple nominations does not enhance your chances of winning.
HERO (n.) a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.
BusinessWest and Healthcare News have created Healthcare Heroes to honor those who live up to that word’s definition. This region’s health and wellness sector is large, diverse, and dominated by heroes of all kinds. They’re on the front lines, in the administrative office, the research lab, the neighborhood clinic, the family dentist’s office, the college health and science building. They’re making real contributions to the quality of life in our communities, and it’s time to recognize their efforts!
