2023 Recipients

Alicia Field, Toni Harris and Andrea Slater

Their Story of Excellence: It gives great pleasure to write this story. This is one of complete dedication to patient-centered care. The Telemetry Care Unit received a patient who had experienced a true tragedy; an infection had caused severe sepsis, resulting in the loss of all her limbs. Not only is this tragic for the patient and family but it is complex and heartbreaking to staff.

The nurses on TCU rose to the occasion. They created an environment of support for her, both physically and emotionally, including adaptation of care and rehabilitation. They stepped out of their cardiac comfort zone to provide extraordinary care. They worked with Rehab Therapies to create customized plans and with Case Management to successfully discharge this patient home.

While all the nurses on TCU played an important role in the care of this patient, I would like to highlight Andrea Slater, RN. She was incredibly motivational to this patient. She pushed the patient to become more independent, encouraged her to see her future in a different light and motivated her to succeed. She provided strong emotional support and education/training to the family as well. She helped arrange an amazing send off when the patient was discharged; that it included tokens of admiration TCU had for the patient and a lined hallway of clapping and waving staff.

Toni Harris, Case Management, and Alicia Field, Occupational Therapy, were also phenomenal in this story. Toni worked tirelessly to provide the patient with a safe and successful discharge, while showing endless compassion and perseverance. Early on, Toni involved the assistance of a case manager from the patient’s payor to help explore all possible options for rehab and post-acute needs. The plan slowly moved to a home discharge, with details changing almost daily as the patient processed the plan with her family and support.

Due to the complexity of the patient’s condition, there were many facets of the discharge plan that needed to be addressed, including outpatient pain management, arranging sophisticated durable medical equipment, arranging home health, coordination of family training and payor considerations for coverage of post-acute services.

During the prolonged hospital stay, Toni was always patient, compassionate, and kind to the patient and her family. Alicia brought her therapy and rehabilitation expertise to the unit. She taught the staff, patient and family the therapies needed to ensure the patient would be ready to live her life as an amputee. Alicia and all the therapists were flexible, approachable, and motivational. I am truly honored to have witnessed this teamwork through such an amazing and remarkable story. It makes me proud to be a part of such an amazing, cohesive organization.

Submitted by Sonya Ellena, Manager, Case Management, and Krista Rooks, Nurse Manager, Telemetry Care Unit

Peter Scalet and Sheila Vrbeta 

Their Story of Excellence: The silent savers who should be recognized for Stories of Excellence are Sheila Vrbeta, Pharmacy Tech Buyer, and Peter Scalet, Clinical Informatics Pharmacist. Sheila manages all the medications and supplies for the pharmacy at the Enloe Health Regional Cancer Center. What may seem like a straightforward task of managing inventory and ordering product when needed, has become quite cumbersome over the last few years.

The shortage of critical medications used to treat cancer has made national news affecting thousands of patients. Drug shortages have become the new normal and can occur for a variety of reasons, including manufacturing delays or discontinuation of medications, the FDA shutting down manufacturing due to quality standards, or natural disasters. In this past year we experienced, and are still experiencing, drug shortages on many first-line treatment chemotherapy agents — so much so, that the American Society of Clinical Oncology posted guidelines on how to treat patients when the preferred agents are not available.

Cancer centers throughout the United States have been forced to make difficult decisions on whom to treat, often reserving first-line treatment chemotherapy agents, if available, for curative patients and using second- or third-line treatment options for palliative patients. Providers have been forced to have difficult conversations with their patients and family members.

Thankfully, Enloe Health Regional Cancer Center has not had to implement any of these strategies. Sheila’s diligent work as the pharmacy tech buyer has ensured that the Cancer Center has kept us ahead of the shortages and to date, we have not turned away a single patient due to a drug shortage. Her attention to detail, quick actions and ability to build relationships with our suppliers has allowed us to continue to treat patients with the best therapy options available.

Peter has also played a vital role in this process by keeping us informed of drug shortages. There have been several occasions when Peter informed us of an upcoming shortage and we were able to act quickly to stock up right before the product became unavailable.

Even though nobody sees the work that Peter and Sheila do behind the scenes, it affects the care of hundreds of patients, helping to increase survival rate and life expectancy.

Submitted by Junaid Ramsingh, Pharmacist, Cancer Center, and Samantha Pursell, Manager, Cancer Center Pharmacy

Moriah Crew, Soumya Pai, Jennifer Sanchez, Nicole Whitlatch and Enloe Breast Imaging

Their Story of Excellence: An established patient of Nicole Whitlatch, M.D., and Soumya Pai, M.D., arrived at Enloe Health Comprehensive Breast Care Clinic with new symptoms and concerns that seemed to be worsening. She had just come from her MRI appointment in which, for the second time, she could not complete and was in distress.

Moriah Crew, our Lead Oncology Nurse Navigator, immediately led her into an exam room to listen to her concerns in a more private area. Dr. Whitlatch was in the clinic but already had a full schedule, so Jennifer Sanchez, Nurse Practitioner, willingly added the patient to her schedule to be seen and assessed. In the meantime, Dr. Whitlatch ordered a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound for the patient. Enloe Health Breast Imaging was able to accommodate and see the patient immediately.

After her visit with Jen, the patient was walked across the lobby to complete her mammogram and ultrasound. Due to her symptoms, a skin punch biopsy was also recommended. Dr. Pai agreed to come into the clinic after her full day of surgery to perform the procedure. The patient was walked back to the clinic to wait in the treatment room for Dr. Pai. While the patient was waiting, Dr. Whitlatch slipped into the room and performed a breast exam. Soon after that, the biopsy was completed and the patient was set up with the necessary follow-up appointments.

I cannot tell you how proud I am to work with such a great group of people. The care and compassion that they provided to this patient, as a team, surpassed my expectations of what it means to provide quality, patient-centered care.

Submitted by Amy Wang, Clinic Supervisor, Comprehensive Breast Care

Carlos Gutierrez

His Story of Excellence: This story is an extraordinary example of how everyone in our organization plays a vital role in patient-centered care.

One afternoon, Carlos Gutierrez, Environmental Services, was cleaning a bed in a Cardiovascular Unit double room. While cleaning, Carlos noticed something was not right with the patient in the other bed. Because he was concerned for the patient’s well-being, he immediately alerted the staff of his concerns. When staff arrived, the patient was pulseless; a code blue was paged overhead. Within seconds, CPR was initiated and the Code Team arrived. Per the American Heart Association, a victim’s chance of survival decreases by 10% for each minute CPR is delayed. Immediate CPR from someone nearby, can double or even triple the chance of survival.

In this case, there is no doubt this patient survived due to Carlos’ quick response. On behalf of the CVU staff, thank you, Carlos, for your diligence and quick response to an emergent situation. You are a valued part of our team!

Submitted by Holly Abrams, Nurse Manager, Cardiovascular Unit

Travis Breeding, Laura Greene, Ariel Hidalgo, Susan Hunt, Eric Lamb, Jake Miller, Vikram Podduturu, Cindy Rodondi and Divya Sreeramoju

Their Story of Excellence: It started off as a normal Sunday working in acute care. I picked up an evaluation on the Cardiovascular Unit (CVU) and as I rounded the corner there were at least 50 people in the ICU waiting room; that is never a good sign. It was then that I saw my friend’s husband. My heart dropped as he told me, “She is on life support and we’re waiting for two more family members to come to say goodbye, and then we’re stopping treatment.”

She had been admitted a few days earlier, coded that morning, CPR initiated, was intubated, maxed out on vent settings and levo, and received continuous dialysis. Eric Lamb, R.N., was her ICU nurse. I walked in her room with tears in my eyes to say my goodbyes. Eric just gave me a big hug. Eric, I want to thank you for your care in this situation.

That day and the next, Divya Sreeramoju, M.D., and Ariel Hidalgo, M.D, presided over her care. They supported my friend’s husband, listened to his concerns, spoke in plain terms so he could understand the gravity of the situation, but also gave him hope. Over the following days her vent settings and pressure support were decreased, her vitals were improving, and she was extubated. During this time of uncertainty and waiting, I ran into Jake Miller, Substance Use Navigator, who offered a listening ear.

While working on her discharge, we knew that going home would not be a safe discharge plan. I want to thank Travis Breeding, Supervisor, Therapy, and Cindy Rodondi, Physical Therapist, for assisting with progressive mobility while dialysis was still going and advocating for the Enloe Health Rehabilitation Center. Thank you, Laura Greene, Speech Therapist, for highlighting her cognitive deficits. Thank you, Susan Hunt, Occupational Therapist, for completing the therapy trifecta to facilitate her Rehabilitation Center discharge plan. Collectively, Rehab Therapies understood that going home was not an option as she had physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy goals to be addressed after her medical stay in ICU.

I want to thank Vikram Podduturu, M.D., for accepting her to the Rehabilitation Center to continue her road to recovery. Growing up in a small town and working for the local hospital has its perks and drawbacks. At some point you will encounter a friend, family member or neighbor admitted to the hospital. This experience hit really close to home, and I wanted to personally thank the ICU and CVU nursing staff and the acute rehab therapists. My friend wouldn’t be here today if not for you.

Submitted by Bridget Carney, Physical Therapist, Rehab Therapies

Vincent Balardi

His Story of Excellence: On Christmas Eve we had a young patient with a rare disease in the Emergency Department. The ED was the last place this child wanted to be on Christmas Eve.

Vincent Balardi, M.D., was being his outgoing self and talking to this patient about Christmas, what his family liked to do, and what gifts they were hoping for. The patient told Dr. Balardi how they enjoyed playing on their Nintendo Switch and would love the new Mario Bros. game.

Dr. Balardi, recognizing that this family may struggle to get this gift, called his son and had him go out on Christmas Eve and purchase the game for this child. His son brought it to the hospital, wrapped in homemade wrapping paper, and they presented the gift to the patient. This one act of kindness brought joy to this child on a very difficult night.

Submitted by Jennifer Melo, Nurse Manager, Emergency Department

Brent Butcher, Lilia Chapman, Janell Contaxis-Neal, Mirtha Delatorre, Courtney Duncan, Isaac Harris, Miguel Puig and Emily Schultz

Their Story of Excellence: On Dec. 28, 2022, my father suffered a cardiac arrest while awaiting a lifesaving heart surgery. Thankfully, he was in the Enloe ED when it occurred. His ED nurse Isaac Harris, RN, jumped into action and began CPR without hesitation, while calling for help. After nearly half an hour of advanced cardiac life support, led by Brent Butcher, M.D., he miraculously regained pulses. Clearly, we had no idea if he was going to survive this traumatic event, given the severity of his illness and length of CPR.

After nine days on life support in the Cardiac ICU, a subsequent stroke, and lifesaving open-heart surgery by Miguel Puig, M.D., he was extubated and doing good! With the exceptional care my father received in the critical days after his cardiac arrest, he can truly be called a miracle man. I have a unique perspective on the 96 days my dad was admitted at Enloe hospital and Enloe Rehab. Not only am I the daughter of a patient, I am also an Enloe employee.

During this horrible time, there were so many health care providers who went above and beyond for our family, ensuring not only that my dad was cared for and loved, but was also treated with the utmost respect and dignity.

I cannot thank Lilia Chapman, RN, Courtney Duncan, RN, Janell Contaxis-Neal, RN, Emily Schultz, RN, and Mirtha Delatorre, RN, enough for their kindness, compassion, and love for our entire family during his stay in the Cardiac ICU. You are all truly the meaning of patient-centered care and human kindness. I will forever be grateful for my Enloe family taking care of my family during this traumatic and stressful time in our lives.

Submitted by Leslie Espinoza, Respiratory Care Practitioner, Respiratory Therapy

Scott Schneider

His Story of Excellence: Scott Schneider, M.D., is truly dedicated to getting a job done in the most quick, efficient and effective way possible. Every time he comes to the operating room with his cases, he is willing to help with any job in the department.

He literally picks up a mop or a washcloth and helps to clean the OR suite in between cases before he heads out to do his charting. He is there before and after surgery, with the patient, to assist moving and positioning the patient for every single case.

Dr. Schneider uses the da Vinci robot to perform surgeries and is always willing to provide training or explain tips and tricks to any staff member, whether it be a nurse or tech. He will drape the da Vinci and take down the drapes himself after the case. He has shown all of us in robotics the easiest and quickest way to do it.

Dr. Schneider is truly willing to do it all, even pick up a mop, to get patients into surgery as quickly as possible. When you have patients waiting in pre-op who are cold, hungry and nervous, it really makes a difference to cut down the amount of time they have to wait. In times of short staffing, it has taken the pressure off the staff to know that Dr. Schneider will help do anything with a smile on his face, no less. His patients love him, and the staff loves to work with him.

Submitted by Sarah Geary, Charge Nurse Perioperative, Surgery Services 

Bayleigh Fountain, Krystal Hassett and Lauren Melton

Their Story of Excellence: It was the night before Valentine’s Day, and this patient was near his last hours in the Neuro-Trauma-Surgical ICU. He had proposed to his wife on the eve of Valentine’s Day 50 years ago.

RN Lauren Melton, with the help of RNs Krystal Hassett and Bayleigh Fountain and the patient, re-created that moment. They bought flowers from the vending machine downstairs, put on some classical music and asked his wife to come in.

Tears were shed. When she told him she loved him, his reply was, “I love you more.” What an amazing gift those nurses were able to give, helping him re-create a beautiful memory. The patient passed away later on that day.

Submitted by Jean Hicks, Charge Nurse, NTSICU

Infusion Therapy Staff

Their Story of Excellence: We have a patient who has been under our care for about four years for her fight with breast cancer. She and her husband were sitting in their living room, watching TV when they realized their house was on fire. They ran out of the house with the clothes on their backs and thankfully were able to rescue their dogs.

They lost everything. Everything. The only item she grabbed was her favorite blanket, which she has brought to every infusion appointment over the years.

This woman is not a complainer and just mentioned to her nurse that her house had burned down a mere days before her last infusion appointment. The nurse was shocked with the news, and we were all impressed with the grace she carried after such a heartbreaking event. We decided, as a unit, to help her out. Within six days, we collected over $900 from the Infusion health care team. We surprised her with a gift basket of dog treats, human treats and an envelope with the money.

Our gifts were too much for her to bear, as she admitted it was the first time she cried since her house had burned down, two weeks after the event. This story is just one example of how kind and committed our team is to our patients.

Submitted by Rebecca Smith, RN, Enloe Regional Cancer Center

Oncology Unit & Inpatient Pharmacy Teams

Their Story of Excellence: The Oncology Unit recently stepped up to the challenge by providing a complex, high-risk chemotherapy treatment to one of our young patients. The patient, well known to our Oncology department, was showing evidence of response to her chemotherapy treatment, but she had unfortunately developed a hypersensitivity response to two of the chemotherapy agents in her treatment plan.

Robert Randolph, M.D., Hematology/Oncology, reached out to our Oncology Services Coordinator, Marti Hunsinger, to see if we could help our patient continue to receive her chemotherapy regimen by admitting the patient for a chemotherapy desensitization protocol. Chemotherapeutic and biotherapeutic drugs can cause severe, life-threating hypersensitivity reactions.

Chemotherapy desensitization is an intensive regimen that requires incrementally increasing the dose of a medication through a series of administrations until the full target dose is reached. These administrations require two nurses be at the bedside for 6 hours at a time. Through care coordination with the patient’s oncologist, allergist, Pharmacy, Outpatient Cancer Center and our fourth floor Oncology team, the decision was made to admit the patient to the fourth floor to provide this critical treatment. Marti thoroughly researched the process and provided pre-education and support to our Oncology staff, so all involved were prepared for the process.

The patient was staffed 1-to-1, and appropriate pre-meds and rescue meds were available. There were multiple oncology nurses who helped safely administer the treatment over several separate hospital admissions. I would like to recognize Stephen Jarmush, RN, Sue Vang, RN, Leana Bondad, RN, and Ashley Arnold, RN, who were instrumental in providing expert care for this patient. During one of the infusions, Sue had to manage symptomatic bradycardia, which ultimately required a pacemaker placement. Once the patient was stable, the decision was made to continue treatment.

The patient developed additional hypersensitivity reactions — though less severe than the bradycardia — and was treated promptly thanks to the assessment, knowledge, and response by her Oncology nurses. Additionally, Marti remained way past office hours at the bedside during each infusion to support the patient, the bedside nurse, to retrieve rescue medications and help coordinate care. The patient was able to complete three cycles — each 21 days apart — as an inpatient and was ultimately transitioned to outpatient treatment once it was known the full target dose of each medication could be safely administered.

It is equally important to acknowledge the huge effort required by Inpatient Pharmacy to help make this a possibility. In order for this patient to receive these medications, the pharmacy had to prime the lines with the chemotherapy agent, which sounds much simpler than it is. Each day of treatment required three separate bags to be mixed and primed for a total of eight days or 24 bags.

They practiced and problem-solved and safely figured out how to prepare these medications. Additionally, they managed to accomplish that early enough in the day that the nurses could get started as early as possible. They were patient and helpful and very understanding during the entire process.

I would like to recognize the following pharmacy staff for all of their dedication: Jack Ulmer, Clinical Services Pharmacist, Jeff Ando, Pharmacist, Kayli Palade, Pharmacy Tech, Sal Garnica, Pharmacy Tech, Josh Shuba, Pharmacy Tech, Kim Chapman, Pharmacy Tech, and Dana Silver, Pharmacy Tech. All of you were absolutely amazing. It was a phenomenal coordination of care by our Oncology team and Inpatient Pharmacy to ultimately provide our patient her crucial cancer treatment.

Submitted by Jennifer Bates, Charge Nurse, Oncology

Stephanie “Stevie” Shanoff

Her Story of Excellence: Stevie Shanoff, LVN, was working in the Nettleton Mother & Baby Care Center as the Inpatient Lactation Consultant on Sunday, Feb. 6.

Stevie received a note from nursing staff that said a mother had called the unit with questions about pumping. Stevie found the time in her busy shift to call the mother at home to offer support.

The mother explained that she had been transported from Enloe to Sutter at 26 weeks gestation and had delivered her 26-week-old twins via emergency cesarean section. The twins were admitted to the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Sutter and, after the mother recovered for a few days, she had to be discharged home while her infants stayed in the NICU.

Because the mother was recovering from a prior surgery and her C-section surgery, she was not able to drive back and forth from Chico to Sutter. The father of the babies stayed in Sacramento to be close to the infants.

The mother’s concern was that she needed to pump breastmilk for her preterm twins but did not have an electric breast pump at home. Because her babies were born so prematurely, she had not yet received a pump from insurance. The mother was given a manual breast pump from Sutter, which she was using every 2 to 3 hours, but this was very challenging for her because it takes twice the amount of time and energy to pump and is not as effective at maintaining a milk supply. Because it was a weekend, the Enloe Mother & Baby Education Center, where we rent hospital-grade breast pumps, was not open.

Stevie made a call to the Department Assistant, Mary Volpato, at home, and Mary walked Stevie through the process of renting the pump to the mother. Stevie drove over to the outpatient office at the end of her shift to meet the mother and provide her with the pump rental. The mother was overwhelmed with joy to be able to have a reliable, efficient pump to provide milk to her babies.

Stevie went above and beyond to help this mother and because of her willingness to help, these babies will be able to receive the important nutrition they need to thrive. We are so lucky to have Stevie as part of our Lactation Program at Enloe.

Submitted by Lyndsey Williams, RN, Couplet Care