Staff Recognized with the Daisy Award ®, Petal and Bee Awards

Uvalde Memorial Hospital (UMH) honored three high performing staff members with The DAISY Award®, PETAL Award and BEE Award at their quarterly recognition ceremony in January. The awards recognize top performers, nominated by peers and patients, in the areas of nursing, clinical care, and non-clinical staff, respectively.

Award recipients for January 2024 were Rick Iturbe, RN, Noemi Sanchez, and Lucila Carillo.

Rick Iturbe is a registered nurse on the medical and surgical unit and received the DAISY Award.

“Rick consistently demonstrates an unwavering commitment to patient care, education, and teamwork that set him apart as an exceptional healthcare professional,” read Rick’s nomination.

The nomination went on to reference Iturbe’s versatility being cross trained with multiple units and taking on the role of house supervisor. He was described as adaptable, approachable, committed, genuinely enthusiastic, and a mentor and natural educator.

Noemi Sanchez earned the PETAL Award. Noemi is an imaging specialist in the radiology department. She is trained in multiple imaging modalities including mammography, bone density, computed tomography (CT), x-ray, and fluoroscopy.

“Noemi is kind and gentle. Her caring spirit and expansive knowledge helped us trust her as she demonstrated great care in my elderly mother’s scare with breast cancer,” read a patient nomination.

A nomination by a peer went on to say that “anyone who works with her loves her.” Sanchez was described by peers as exemplifying compassion, being a “jack of all trades” and being a “go to” person.

Lucila Carillo is an environmental services employee and received the BEE Award. Carillo was described as an extraordinary person who takes pride in her work and is quick in completing assigned duties very thoroughly. The nomination added that she is honest, helpful, and always most concerned about the well-being of patients, visitors, and guests.

“She is a hard charging employee that any non-clinical department would be lucky to have,” read Carillo’s nomination.

The three awards originated when UMH partnered with the DAISY Foundation to honor local nurses with the prestigious DAISY Award®. At that time UMH executives recognized that alongside nurses, the teamwork of other clinical staff and non-clinical staff were equally important in positive outcomes.

“Just like a daisy wouldn’t be a beautiful flower without its petals, it would not be able to grow without the help of the bee. These two additional awards symbolize the role all three categories of staff play in ensuring patients receive excellent care every visit,” shared human resources officer Charla Garcia.

The hospital’s Performing Exceptional Tasks and Affirming Lives (PETAL) Award is given to a non-nursing clinical staff member. This applies to teams such as imaging, radiology, cardiopulmonary, rehabilitation, and others. The Being Extraordinary Everyday (BEE) Award recognizes a non-clinical team member. This encompasses support staff such as security, maintenance, business office, medical records, and more.

For all awards, nominations can be submitted by patients, families, and colleagues. Nomination forms are available online at www.umhtx.org or at the hospital’s front information desk. Nominations are reviewed by the hospital’s awards committee and winners are selected quarterly. Each DAISY, PETAL, and BEE Award honoree is recognized at a hospital-wide ceremony and receives a certificate, a custom lapel pin, and a hand-carved stone sculpture by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.