About UI Health

ICARE Award

The ICARE Award is for employees and physicians who demonstrate the core values of UI Health, display a job performance that goes above and beyond expected performance, exhibit a patient-first mentality, are motivated and strive for excellence, contribute to the positive culture in the department and organization, and have made a difference in the life of a patient, visitor, or peer. Click here to submit a CARE Award nomination.

February 2023

Surgical Clinical Team

Employee Submission: Alex Guyan
I would like to recognize all the staff from our Surgical Clinic, 3F. Specifically the Medical Assistances that have felt the harsh ship of missing some of our clinic-based staff. Their constant dedication and hard work are truly exemplary.

We have a unique clinic that supports to 10 different Surgical Services. Several of the services require staff with strong knowledge, expertise, and hard work. Their collaboration, teamwork, and dedication should not and has not been overlooked.

One of the services that require a strong team approach is our wound clinic. The wound clinic has a vast amount of challenging patients that require frequent clinic visit and specialty wound care. The team works hard to assure that all of our patients feel welcomed and well cared after. Patients often voice praises for the work that our team provides them; always, with a smile. One of my longtime friends had been a patient in of our wound clinic and he often will mention to me how lucky he is to have found a team that took such great care of him.

I am often elated to see the great interaction and joyful exchanges between our staff. The team has demonstrated great resilience and extraordinary approach to completing task to our a patients' satisfaction.

Thanks again for your tireless efforts and the work that you do every day. I am truly honored to be part of such a great team.

Teodora Branca

Employee Submission: Josiah Sault
I had the pleasure of cotreating a few patients in the neuro ICU with Tia during Snowmageddon 2022 (Dec 23). I don't frequently work in the inpatient setting as I manage an offsite physical therapy clinic primarily treating ambulatory patients with orthopedic complaints, and I was helping to fill in during the storm. Tia not only has the most calming presence and made me feel at home working with her in a setting I hadn't been in for a few years, but she demonstrated an unconditional regard for her patients.

With one patient in particular I was struck by her depth of respect and honor shown to those in her care. We went in to see a patient on covid and contact plus isolation in the neuro ICU. The patient had been found after experiencing a stroke the day before and was transferred to our hospital from an outside hospital because they could not provide the testing needed. The patient was globally aphasic and when we entered the room did not open her eyes. She didn't move or respond to our voices and was generally unresponsive to any attempt to rouse her. After we had completed our assessments, Tia took a few additional minutes to clean the woman's face, eyes, and forehead speaking to her kindly as she did. This woman may not have heard or understood the words, but in that moment, Tia demonstrated what we all need to remember: the people we serve are in need of our help, and regardless of their recognition of our efforts are deserving of empathy, kindness, respect and care. I am confident had I not been there, Tia would have done the same thing in the same manner. Definitely lifted my spirits moving into the holidays!

March 2023

Alexandra Scheneck

On Wednesday the 24th of January I went to have my voice prosthesis changed due to leakage. Unfortunately, the replacement I brought box was missing the replacement. Alex suggested we go home and look for the replacement and if we couldn't find it she would help us reordered another. Upon arriving home, we found the replacement she actually took time to give us a courtesy call to get an update. She scheduled us for the following day Thursday the 25th at 9:30am. What a day!! What started off as a routine change was more than expected. You see my voice prosthesis is on an angle and very hard to insert. Only Caroline Deskin is familiar with the angle! But Alex was phenomenal 4 hours we were there with numerous attempts to insert the prosthesis. She reached out to several resources for help. Reassuring me that she was going to get it! Only caring that I was comfortable and not in any pain! She contacted Liz who insisted that she dilate the hole larger for easy insertion. She reached out to Atos Medical! Not until she called Caroline Deskin who is familiar with changing my prosthesis gave her direction. Caroline said use a QTip to find the angle! She said OK Eugene let's try again! She used a Qtip found the angle and inserted that voice prosthesis in minutes! High five!!! It's a done deal phenomenal work at its best! During the entire visit Alex kept that smile on her face assuring me if this time doesn't work I have a backup plan! She went above and beyond finding a solution and never giving up! She made me feel comfortable and confident that she would get the job done! Yes she deserves recognition because she had other patients to see. Yet she continued to make my visit her #1 priority! Changing my voice prosthesis is not an easy job! Caroline would confirm this! But Alex found the resources to make this a smooth transition! On a scale from 1-10 I give her a 10+. Thank you Alex for being a part of UI Healthcare You have gained a satisfied Patient.

Carrie Carpenter

Employee Submission: 2C PT Staff

Carrie is a phenomenal health care provider. She is very responsive with communication. All patients that have responded such positive remarks about Carrie.

Carrie consistently demonstrates UIH core values daily as she provides social services support to the patients, we serve in outpatient OT/PT in 2C. As a team of providers, we often find needs of our patients that extend beyond our therapy scope. Sometimes the need is very urgent. We call on Carrie frequently, and she is always responsive, caring, compassionate, helpful, and thorough. Not only is she invaluable to our team, but she is also invaluable to our patients. We are beyond fortunate to have her at UIH, living out our values and mission every day.

I'm including comments from several team members in 2C below:
Carrie is one of the most passionate and empathetic individuals I’ve ever had the opportunities to work with. From assisting in setting up stress/depression counselling, legal help, housing/homecare aid resources etc. Countless times I’ve had the incidences where Carrie has assisted my patients to receive optimal resources to optimize care. –RM

Carrie is not only very reliable and responsive, but she is also kind and thorough in her approach. She is full of compassion in her commitment to our patients. On behalf of the PT/OT team in 2C, Thank You, Carrie, for providing such wonderful care for our patients. You are exceptional, and a difference maker! –JP

Carrie is always so positive and responsive to staff and patient needs. I had contacted Carrie once with a need to assist a patient in getting a rollater walker as the patient did not have the ability to seek out a vendor on her own. Not only did Carrie respond, but she was able to physically bring a rollater walker to our clinic and provide it to the patient. What a way to serve our patients with excellence! I truly feel that I can rely on Carrie to address patient needs. If she is available, she comes to the clinic directly and speaks to a patient. If she is unavailable, she is consistent and timely with phone call follow ups to address pt care needs. There has never been a time in which a need or question was not addressed. Additionally, Carrie will go out of her way to learn more about how to best aid a patient. She was less familiar with how pt wheelchair needs are met and took the time to come into the clinic and speak with therapists to ensure that she had all the correct information. Her commitment to patients is inspirational, her communication is always patient, empathetic and positive, and her dedication to ensuring quality of care provided is excellent.-SD

Carrie is Consistent! Truly, she responds promptly to every single referral I email her about no matter how busy she is. She is dedicated, caring, and professional; she is an extreme value to UI Health! -JS

Carrie is timely and thorough. She always responds to me quickly and reaches out to patients quickly. She then completes very comprehensive documentation that often includes resources provided to the patient, so I’ve had instances where the patient has lost the information she pro-vided but I was able to provide it again because she noted it in the chart. –AU

Carrie is always a cham-pion for all patients. I have often requested her help and some of those were very difficult situations that patients were in, and Carrie was tried and true. No matter the request, she is always happy to help, efficient and effective. She truly embodies the UI Health mission. –HM

Carrie is dependable and a huge asset to our patients in the 2C clinic. We are lucky to be able to rely on her! –LG

Carrie is an incredible social worker, and my patients say great things about her. She is extremely reliable, and I can always be confident she will reach out to each patient I refer. Our patients can have very complicated, difficult lives and trauma, and Carrie ensures she not only addresses the reason for referral but goes out of her way to identify any other needs the patient may have, like accessible mental health. Carrie is an incredible social worker, and my patients say great things about her. She is extremely reliable, and I can always be confident she will reach out to each and every patient I refer. Our patients can have very complicated and difficult lives and trauma, and Carrie ensures she not only addresses the reason for referral but goes out of her way to identify any other needs the patient may have, like accessible mental health referrals, utility assistance, homemaker services, and help arranging medical transportation through insurance and PACE. Carrie is invaluable to this department, our patients, and UI Health as a whole. AM

She is awesome and such a help for my patients. – MA

Carrie is an absolutely amazing social worker! She goes above and beyond for our department to ensure that our patients have the resources that they need in order to navigate very difficult situations. She is quick to respond and super reliable!! I honestly don't know where our department and our patients would be without her! We love you Carrie – MB

Diana Rodriquez

Employee Submission: Heidi Enriquez on behalf of the Hepatology Service

We would like to nominate Diana for an I CARE award for her recent efforts on behalf of one of our patients discharging home with hospice. Diana works every Saturday and is responsible for attending to the social work needs of patients throughout the hospital.

On this Saturday, the hepatology service requested her assistance in supporting a complex hospice discharge. The hepatology resident passed along the following thank you: I am the current senior resident on the Hepatology inpatient service, and I wanted to give a special commendation to Mrs. Diana Rodriguez, the weekend floor social worker, who was of immense help to our team today. We appreciate all of our social workers immensely, but today Diana provided us with such incredible help that I feel the need to recognize her individually. We had a particularly difficulty situation with a patient who is undocumented, actively dying, and whose family desperately wanted to take him home today to begin charity hospice services, so that he could pass peacefully surrounded by his loved ones instead of in the hospital alone. Because of Diana's help, we were able to take advantage of the small window of medical stability we had for this patient in order to facilitate his last wishes, which he had clearly articulated to us were to go home and be with his loved ones at the end of his life. Diana even worked incredibly efficiently to arrange a charity ambulance for this patient when the team had been told previously no such service could be made available; the family (and the team) were encouraged simply by the humanity of this gesture, even though they ultimately decided to transport the patient on their own because they did not want to risk waiting until tomorrow. Diana truly went above and beyond for our team and this patient today, coordinating hospice services at the very last minute, making sure all the patient's paperwork was in order, and most important of all, maintaining a kind and positive demeanor through it all. It is only because of her help that we were able to expedite this patient's care and discharge him safely, making sure the hospice agency could evaluate him immediately upon his arrival home, and that the family would thus have the support they needed to care for him during an incredibly challenging time. I think I speak for the entire Hepatology team today when I say we want to give Diana our greatest thanks!!

April 2023

Gail Buenaventura

The department of Surgical Services strives to deliver high quality efficient care for all or our patients. While metrics are used to measure this care, they are only part of the equation. The other part is ensuring that our values and the I CARE standards are embedded into that care. I would like to take this opportunity to share how Melissa demonstrated compassion, respect, and excellence as she cared for a patient in the perioperative area. Watching her as she interacted with the patient, had I not known that she was a practitioner, I would have thought that she was a family member. Even using the assistance of an interpreter, her compassionate tone and patient manner were evident as she helped the patient understand his plan of care. She spoke slowly and stopped frequently to ensure that he was able to follow what she was saying. She allowed ample time for him to provide his input and ask any questions. When it was time for him to sign, he seemed unsure how to proceed using the available technology . She later explained to me that she frequently encounters patients that are new to using e-signature devices. With the help of the interpreter, she carefully explained to the patient what needed to be done and walked him through each step. Her tone was one of respect and compassion. Not only was the patient able to sign the consent, but he had a big smile on his face and a sense of accomplishment . Not only was the task completed but Melissa accomplished it with excellence.

Melissa Duckett

The department of Surgical Services strives to deliver high quality efficient care for all or our patients. While metrics are used to measure this care, they are only part of the equation. The other part is ensuring that our values and the I CARE standards are embedded into that care. I would like to take this opportunity to share how Melissa demonstrated compassion, respect, and excellence as she cared for a patient in the perioperative area. Watching her as she interacted with the patient, had I not known that she was a practitioner, I would have thought that she was a family member. Even using the assistance of an interpreter, her compassionate tone and patient manner were evident as she helped the patient understand his plan of care. She spoke slowly and stopped frequently to ensure that he was able to follow what she was saying. She allowed ample time for him to provide his input and ask any questions. When it was time for him to sign, he seemed unsure how to proceed using the available technology. She later explained to me that she frequently encounters patients that are new to using e-signature devices. With the help of the interpreter, she carefully explained to the patient what needed to be done and walked him through each step. Her tone was one of respect and compassion. Not only was the patient able to sign the consent, but he had a big smile on his face and a sense of accomplishment. Not only was the task completed but Melissa accomplished it with excellence.