Five women who work at Beth Israel Medical Center-Kings Highway Division were named winners of the 2010 Heart Award. Evangeline Abalos, RN, Lucy Cannizzaro, RPh, Catherine Leota, RN, Janece Lyons, PCA, and Dorota Rybicka, RN, were honored during a ceremony held across the street from the hospital, 3201 Kings Highway in Marine Park.
The honorees, nominated by their fellow employees and selected by a special committee, were presented engraved crystal hearts by Beth Israel Interim President Harris Nagler, MD; Rhona Hetstrony, VP for Administration, and Marie Flordeliza, RN, VP for Patient Care Services.
Abalos was praised as a “Champion of 3 East” for fostering harmony and cooperation and exercising leadership, according to Nurse Manager Nora Villalon, RN. She has worked at Beth Israel for 18 years and was honored in 2006 with the Beatrice Renfield Circle of Excellence Award for Patient-Centered Care.
Leota is a nurse manager in Patient Care Services and was Beth Israel’s 2007 nominee for Nurse Leader in the 1199 SEIU-League citywide honors. She is “a consistently compassionate nurse manager to both staff and patients who works hard and is a respected clinician,” said Honey Shields, director of Customer Services. Leota has completed 30 years of service to the hospital.
“Kind-hearted” does not begin to describe what Lyons does at work and during off-hours, according to the anonymous nomination submitted on her behalf. For several holidays she has been doing something so unusual and noteworthy that her co-workers are awed by her generosity.
The anonymous person who nominated Rybicka described her as “kind and compassionate toward her patients…she is a quiet person and well-respected by co-workers on all shifts.”Rybicka, who came to the US from Poland in 1992, says she was surprised to hear of the recognition. She is the first nurse on her med-surg unit to be honored with the coveted Heart Award, according to Nurse Manager Linda Flaherty, RN.
“Our honorees occupy a special place in the hearts of everyone at the Kings Highway Division. They give a lot of themselves to our patients and staff,” said Hetsrony. “Their dedication and personal character are an inspiration for us all.”
