PROVIDENCE – Women & Infants Hospital recently presented its annual customer excellence awards at the sixth annual Patient, Family, and Community Centered Care Summit, “Celebrating the Patient and Family Experience,” held Jan. 24.
Receiving the awards were Edie McConaughey, clinical winner of the Richard P. Welch Award; Lori Bailey, non-clinical winner of the Richard P. Welch Award; and Jennifer Silva, winner of the Noreen Mattis Award for Excellence in Patient and Family Centered Care.
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McConaughey, a certified nurse-midwife in the midwifery department who has worked at Women & Infants for more than 25 years, was nominated by department director Elisabeth D. Howard on behalf of the entire department.
“On a daily basis, Edie has shown herself to be exemplary in patient care, teaching and collaborating with nurse and physician colleagues. Edie always places the woman and family she is caring for at the center of the obstetric team,” Howard said.
She cited McConaughey’s work with a patient.
“While the woman had never met Edie before, the short time that Edie spent with the woman, coaching, reassuring, delivering the infant then placing her immediately skin-to-skin, was life-changing. … This woman was so inspired by her delivery experience, she started a business creating special shirts for women to wear that assisted with skin-to-skin contact,” Howard said.
Lori Bailey, who works in food and nutrition services, was nominated by a colleague in the hospital’s Carter Family Neonatal Intensive Care Unit who wrote about Bailey’s involvement with a lunch delivery program for families who are caring for their baby in the NICU.
The program was established through a partnership with the philanthropy department and the NICU Family Advisory Council. She wrote, “Where do I begin? Perhaps I begin with her warm smile and the kind words that she has for every family that she comes in contact with, or the fact that after she sets the lunch out, she goes out of her way to seek out any NICU parent in the area to let them know that lunch is ready. Shortly after Lori became our NICU ‘lunch lady,’ she took it upon herself to start bringing up a fresh table cloth every day to make the area more inviting, even purchasing one on her own once for a special holiday. Mindful to the challenges our families face, Lori is sure to place any leftover sandwiches in ‘to-go’ containers in the refrigerator for families to be able to enjoy after hours. … Lori treats our NICU families like they are guests in her home.”
Jennifer Silva, a member of the NICU Family Advisory Council, was nominated separately by two council members.
“Jenn is more than just a council member, she is an advocate for families who is always willing to do what it takes to make sure NICU families have what they need. … Her passion and dedication shows as you walk through the NICU family room, which she has taken as her personal project to keep comfortable and welcoming. … The NICU is a better place because of Jenn, and our NFAC is beyond blessed to have her,” her nomination read.
Rob Borkowski is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Borkowski@PBN.com.
