The Search for ‘Heroes’ Begins – Categories Finalized for New Healthcare Recognition Program

HCN and BusinessWest have finalized a list of categories for a new and exciting recognition program involving the Western Mass. healthcare sector.

It is called, appropriately enough, Healthcare Heroes, a name known across the country as a means to recognize excellence in healthcare, and one that is now making its introduction in the four western counties of Massachusetts.

Presented by American International College, and supported by Bay Path University, Elms College, and Renew.Calm, with additional sponsorships available, the program was created to shed a bright light on the outstanding work being done across the broad spectrum of health and wellness services, and the institutions and individuals providing that care, said Kate Campiti, associate publisher of BusinessWest and HCN.

The ‘heroes’ will be recognized on Oct. 19 at the Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden. That will be the climax to a lengthy process that will begin with nominations for outstanding achievement in the following categories:

• Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider;

• Innovation in Health/Wellness;

• Community Health;

• Emerging Leader;

• Collaboration in Health/Wellness;

• Health/Wellness Administration/Administrator; and

• Lifetime Achievement.

In subsequent issues of both HCN and BusinessWest, as well as in e-mail blasts and online at BusinessWest.com and HealthcareNews.com, the criteria for these categories will be explained in detail, said Campiti, adding that a formal request for nominations will be issued in the coming weeks. These nominations will be scored by a panel of independent judges, and the winners will be selected this summer, with their stories told in both publications in September.

“We put a tremendous amount of thought into the categories, and sought the help of an advisory committee made up of industry leaders,” said Campiti. “We believe this list crosses the broad realm of health and wellness service providers, as well as the important ways in which service should be recognized.”

She cited, as one example, the ‘Collaboration in Health/Wellness’ category.

“Today, collaboration is more than a watchword in healthcare,” she explained. “It’s a means to achieving real progress with health and wellness issues facing our society, because these problems are large in scale, and it often takes collaborating, or partnering, institutions to address them.”

The ‘Innovation in Health/Wellness’ category is another good example, she went on.

“Innovation comes in many forms,” she said. “It could be a new medical procedure or way to treat a specific illness or problem. But is can also be in how an emergency room is designed or redesigned, how a hospital fights infections, how a business is finding new ways to operate more efficiently … the list goes on.”

Given the area healthcare sector’s rich history of cutting-edge work, innovation, collaboration, new-business development, talented workforce, and emerging young leaders across the sector, Campiti said, it should not be difficult to generate several nominations in each category.

“As we finalize the criteria for these categories, we want people to start thinking about the healthcare heroes they know and how they should be recognized by this exciting new program,” she added. “There are countless heroes across this sector, and we want to recognize their achievements.”