Beth Bacon, Certified Prosthetics Fitter at Sebasticook Valley Hospital, has been nominated for the Maine Hospital Association's fifth annual Caregiver of the Year Award. She was honored at a special ceremony at the hospital on June 20th. This statewide award honors a caregiver from an MHA member institution, who, on a daily basis, demonstrates extraordinary commitment to the delivery of care to patients and their families. The 2006 award winner is Dr. Gregory Leach, hospitalist at Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford. His award was announced at MHA's annual Summer Forum Wednesday, June, 21, at the Samoset in Rockport. Each hospital CEO was allowed only one nominee, so being nominated is truly an honor, said MHA President Steven Michaud. "All of the nominees demonstrated the superior quality of care given at Maine hospitals," Michaud said. "It was a challenge to select just one award winner from the nominees." Michaud and a committee of past MHA chairs led by immediate past chair Ralph Gabarro, CEO of Mayo Regional Hospital selected the award recipient. SVH President and CEO John C. May shared, "Beth provides service to women at some of the most difficult times during their lives. For twelve years, she has shown extraordinary compassion, empathy, and respect to the individuals she has served. Beth sees women at vulnerable times – after discovering a lump in their breast or after having breast cancer surgery and coping with the changes in their lives. Perhaps a quote from one of Beth's letters of recommendations regarding her prosthetics care sums up Beth's commitment to her patients' best, "The women Beth provides services to leave with a SMILE and a BIG HUG! An exemplary employee to have." Beth Bacon also travels to five additional sites across Western, Central and Eastern Maine to provide this SVH service to other locations where the service had not been previously available. She also helps coordinate the SVH Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Walk that raises funds for free mammograms for those without insurance or the ability to pay for the service. She has volunteered for a wide range of SVH events from capital campaigns, providing free community health screenings, and various fundraising events. The Caregiver of the Year Award was instituted to bring attention to the work that Maine hospital employees do all day, every day. Leach is the fifth caregiver to win the award. "We wanted to honor those on the front lines of care at Maine's hospitals," Michaud said. "For these nominees, health care isn't just a job, it's a calling." |
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