When it comes to the unsung heroes of the Division of Cardiac Surgery, Karen is at the top of the list. She is a loyal, thoughtful, considerate employee and coworker who is always willing to help her colleagues and, more importantly, our patients. As a secretary in the division, she not only is one of the first and friendliest voices our patients meet, but she kindly and quickly shepherds them through the entire surgical process, patiently relaying their questions to the clinical staff, coordinating their outpatient testing, and making sure each patient is ready to go on the day of their heart surgery. This is an intense and intensive process, but Karen treats each patient with the utmost care and respect and always takes the time to answer their questions, no matter how much work is on her plate. Prior to her most recent (and well-deserved) vacation, patients were prepared to wait a few days to hear back from the department, but Karen made sure every urgent case was booked before she went away. She stayed at work to make sure everyone received a call back, that every patient had a plan. It was truly above and beyond. When asked to take on a challenge, Karen meets it head on and with a can-do attitude that deserves recognition. She works tirelessly to make sure the division is operating at its highest level, often taking more and more work on her own shoulders. In a fast-paced world, Karen appears unflappable, handling every challenge with grace and kindness. When asked to temporarily take over surgical scheduling for the entire division, Karen rose to the challenge without any complaints. Karen is the bedrock of our team, and the exact kind of rock star that deserves recognition.

Meghan Smith
Leonard Lee, MD

Jackie has been a phemominal asset to the OB/GYN team at Chandler. Recently, the health center has been through resignations and FMLA's and Jackie stepped up to help fill a huge void in the department. She approaches patient care with kindness and helpfulness to make sure that our OB/GYN patients receive the best possible care. She helps other staff members and often goes above and beyond to help maintain the health centers high quality standards for patient care.

She often helps cover other shifts and departments to help our nursing shortage. She educates patients and makes sure that they understand their plan of care and needed care follow ups. She maintains the health center's abnormal pap registry and reaches out to patients to make sure that they receive the appropriate follow up for their complex issues.  In this stressful environment, Jackie has helped to keep the nursing department afloat by encouraging other staff members, going above and beyond, and displaying a kind heart. It is with great pleasure that we nominate Jackie for Employee of the Month.

Kelly Bagliore
Beverly O'Shea

I am pleased to nominate Frank Kisly, Sr. Material Handler, for Employee of the Month at RWJMS. What type of traits should we look for when nominating someone for Employee of the Month? I look for employees that are professional, honest, ambitious, reliable and have a good disposition. They need to be problem solvers, plus go above and beyond the call of duty. All of these qualities describe Frank Kisly.

Frank is a dedicated employee who takes great pride in everything he does. He delivers necessary packages of clinical supplies (including PPE, vaccines and medications), lab supplies, office supplies, dry ice and research study items to the CAB, MEB, CHI and East Tower. When needed, he assists with deliveries to CINJ. He goes out of his way to ensure the timely delivery of all packages. He should be commened as he worked in the CAB loading dock area every day throughout the pandemic, working diligently and without complaint.

This is someone who truly makes a difference at RWJMS every day, and is a shining example to his peers and all those around him. He is the kind of employee you want on your team, because he makes your team shine! It is therefore with great pride and admiration that I nominate Frank Kisly as Employee of the Month!

Arlene Clarke

I am nominating Cathy Trillo for her dedication to our patients. She does not see her job as a list of tasks; rather, she persues nursing as a vocation and calling. I have found her stay as long as it takes often late into the evening to ensure that patient needs are taken care of. She is always courteous and patient with patients as well as all of the care providers. She never says "No" to any task asked of her even if it were not to her level of training. We are ever so grateful to her dedication and service. We know that all our patients would be lost without her.

As Manager of the Technical Support Team for RWJMS OIT, Veronical Rosel has been highly involved in the integration with RWJBH and has shown tremendous leadership.  Veronica has been the voice of RWJMS on many technical calls and her efforts will help us minimize technical impacts in clinical areas.  Although it has been challenging at times trying to align technology between the two organizations, Veronica has always handled these challenges most professionally and pleasantly.  Therefore, I am nominating her for Employee of the Month.

Hosana is an exemplary CRNA. She always has a positive attitude and she has a strong work ethic. She recently volunteered to do additional training in cardiac anesthesia and has expanded her skill set. She is very valuable to our department as she has excellent clinical skills in multiple domains such as cardiac and pediatrics. She is a team player and always steps up to volunteer for additional shifts or to adjust her schedule for the department's fluid needs. She is a sought after preceptor to our RRNA's that we train here daily. She is a pleasure to be around and she is conscientious, honest, and always displays a professional demeanor. She has initiated morale boosting activities for our team. Hosana's hard work, dedication, and performance deserve recognition and I am very thankful to have her on our team.

Debbie has worn many hats in the Dean's office over her 15 plus years of employment here, and she wears them very well.  She is unselfish and generous with her time and service to the medical school.  It is noteworthy to mention that during the entire pandemic, Debbie came to the office every day to ensure support of leadership, the clinical team, co-workers and, most importantly, our patient population.  She makes juggling ups and downs look easy and is beyond generous on so many levels.  She is always willing to pitch in regardless of the mission.  She has had to face challenges of which she was totally unfamiliar.  She sought out and learned new processes, and arrived at positive outcomes.  Her skills, knowledge and dedication to our medical school makes us proud to nominate her for the "Employee of the Month" award.

Vicki L. Craig, MD
Mindy Rodden, PhD, RN, CPNP-AC

Diana practiced high reliability organization skills in "stopping the line". Diana noticed an order was written for a medication that was unlike the typical orders she is used to fulfilling. She called the physician, who noted the order was incorrect. The physician changed the order and the child received the appropriate dose of the medication. Diana used excellent judgement and her work helps us to achieve Zero Harm for our patients. Diana should be commended for her dedication and adherence to a safety culture. Her work ensures both our patients and our colleagues are safe.

Mindy Rodden  PhD, RN, CPNP-AC

We are delighted to recommend Damaris Soto for “Employee for the month.” In addition to performing her job at an exemplary level, Damaris demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to the medical community as well as to the general public.

Damaris takes it upon herself to provide exceptional support and service to all faculty, staff and patients. She quickly discerns their individual needs and moves efficiently to provide key information, recommendations, or direction. Beyond this and during times of transition, she has been sensitive to the pandemic and how colleagues have been impacted by it.

Damaris has excellent organizational skills, and she pays keen attention to detail, very good level of IT skills. She displays remarkable initiative and brainstorms solutions to ongoing problems. Damaris is helpful, caring, resourceful, and happy to offer service no matter the task.
Moreover, Damaris is a fantastic teammate, always cheerful, with a great sense of humor. Her quick wit, dedication to patient care and the desire to make the department a better place have
endeared her to her colleagues. Damaris is a wonderful ambassador for our medical community, assisting faculty, trainees and staff and patients.

In summary, Damaris is an excellent employee, conscientious and responsive to requests made by faculty and staff. She is helpful with any requests, always willing to assist when other staff members are away. We enthusiastically recommend her for this honor.

L Nandini Moorthy MD (MBBS) MS
Susan Brooks, MD
Daniel Horton, MD
Nicole Perez, RN, BSN
Cynthia Salvant, MD
Donna L. Weeks, BS, PHR

It is with great pleasure that I nominate Debbie Paolantonio for Employee of the Month.

Debbie has been an absolute star player for our division these past few months.  Our other general surgery LPN resigned in the fall, leaving Debbie to take on her job duties as well as her increased responsibilities already in play due to the pandemic.  Debbie has done this with grace and without complaint.  She has developed a seamless workflow with the surgeons as well as other administrative staff.  She takes phone calls and answers emails on her days off, triages all calls for the division, assists with scheduling patient appointments, and whatever else is asked of her that is outside her normal job duties.  In a time where staffing is short, with no end in sight, Debbie is an example of how to handle an office with limited resources during this pandemic.  She shows up to work with a positive approach to the work day, no matter the challenges she is facing.

Debbie has been my nurse since I joined the general surgery group.  She has smoothly handled everything that has come our way this year.  When we had to move to a more remote workflow, she picked up the in-office duties for those working from home.  She balances virtual visits for one physician simultaneously with an in-person clinic for another.  She is always available, far beyond what I would expect, handling patient issues on nights and weekends when I know she is off.

This brutal season has claimed family members of numerous division staff. We have been chronically and critically short staffed and Debbie has repeatedly picked up the slack.  Throughout all of it, I have never heard her complain, or be anything other than professional, supportive, and an example of how to keep things running despite constant obstacles.

Ms. Paolantonio has worked tirelessly and without complaint over the last year.  Despite the issues inherent to the COVID pandemic, she had come into the office routinely and been available by phone or electronically always.  She make sure patients feel heard and taken care of.  Debbie is always a pleasure to work with.  She has been steady, solid, and upbeat while attending to patient care.   She is detail-oriented, a patient advocate and a GREAT team player.

Kathy Ann cannot be limited by terms such as professionalism, friendliness, supportive and dedicated.

You can find Kathy Ann at all hours of the day and night responding to staff, faculty and students. She proposes solutions, brainstorms problems, and ALWAYS responds to every request with "Absolutely, it would be my pleasure to help".

One example of how she has gone above an beyond by personally driving masks to hospitals so that students who could not attend the pick up day are still able to participate in their clerkship experiences. An example of her team player attitude is her ensuring that she is on campus and checking in with every project. For example the other day admissions had to put together a mailing for acceptance with a 11am deadline, 70 students were on site and being proctored in a social distance manner and so required to be connected to the ethernet, and covid test kits needed to be packaged ... Kathy Ann ensured her staff were available supplies were available, and that she jumped from place to place to problem solve where things went wrong as in an old building often happens. She is more than willing to take on new responsibilities and importantly has the initiative to forecast when a new solution is needed. For example teaching students CPR during a pandemic when the president says no one is allowed to be in the building needed immediate addressing as it is a graduation requirement and so could not be ignored and required ahead of time brainstorming of solutions.

She has improved the process of ordering supplies and created new processes for ensuring students have the correct well fitting masks. She is fully in support of our mission and motivates the staff to collaborate and contribute to this massive endeavor of educating students. And did I mention that she is impressively professional and polite? Rest assured you will never receive a rude word or questionable statement from Kathy Ann.