Choptank Community Health System CEO Sara Rich stands with the 2021 Health Care Hero Award.
The Daily Record of Baltimore has recognized Choptank Community Health System as a 2021 Health Care Hero. Choptank Health is the only award recipient on the Eastern Shore and one of three statewide organizations recognized for their outstanding efforts addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Maryland is a national leader in health care research and development and home to several renowned health care organizations, including Choptank Health. The Daily Record’s Health Care Heroes Awards honor those individuals and organizations who have made an impact on the quality of health care within the state. The editors of The Daily Record selected the winners.
Choptank Community Health is one of 17 Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded health care centers in Maryland specializing in caring for hard-to-reach and disproportionately affected populations. Health centers are community-based organizations that serve all populations. Health Centers serve more than 28 million people nationwide and provide affordable, high quality, comprehensive primary care to people from throughout the local communities, including those underserved and uninsured.
“We are incredibly honored to receive this state-wide award,” said Choptank Health’s CEO, Sara Rich. “The Choptank Health team’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more lives protected through our innovative outreach efforts and each Choptank Health team member’s unwavering dedication to our mission of health care for all.
“During the pandemic Choptank Health took testing, vaccinations, and health care services to our most hesitant and hard-to-reach communities,” Rich says. “Through community partnerships including the Avalon Theatre’s recent Multi-Cultural Festival and outreach to Dorchester County’s migrant workers with the Dorchester County Health Department, we have been able to help address the community’s needs.”
Choptank Health’s Goldsboro dental staff members celebrate earning The Daily Record’s 2021 Health Care Hero award.
Health Care Heroes awards are presented in several categories, including Advancements and Innovation in Health Care, Community Outreach/Education Hero, COVID-19 Hero, Lifetime Achievement, Nurse of the Year, Nurse Practitioner of the Year, Physician Assistant of the Year, Physician of the Year and Workplace Wellness Program of the Year.
“The 2021 Health Care Heroes have faced incredible challenges, and they never give up. Their knowledge, skills and leadership are also making a significant impact on patients, families, the industry and the community,” said Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, senior group publisher of The Daily Record. “Our Health Care Heroes are outstanding, and we thank them for all they do to provide quality health care in Maryland and beyond.”
The 2021 Health Care Heroes awards were presented on June 24 at an online celebration, with each of the winners’ achievements celebrated through video storytelling. Winners including Choptank Community Health are profiled in a dedicated magazine included with the June 25 issue of The Daily Record and online at TheDailyRecord.com.
Members of Choptank Community Health’s Denton staff take a moment to celebrate the health center’s achievement as a 2021 Health Care Hero recognized the Baltimore’s The Daily Record.
Choptank Community Health System provides medical, dental, pediatric, and behavioral health services in Caroline, Dorchester, and Talbot counties, with a mission to provide access to exceptional, comprehensive, and integrated health care for all. Choptank Health’s vision is to improve the health and well-being of people in the communities served by providing outstanding care experiences while being an exceptional place to work and make a difference, with more at choptankhealth.org.
About The Daily Record
Celebrating 133 years of journalistic excellence, The Daily Record is a multimedia news source that publishes a print and online edition five days a week and breaks news daily on its website, TheDailyRecord.com. In addition, The Daily Record publishes more than 30 special products a year including Women Who Lead, Doing Business in Maryland, Way to Be and Expanding Opportunities. The Daily Record also honors leading Marylanders through nine annual awards events including Maryland’s Top 100 Women, Influential Marylanders and Most Admired CEOs. Its Digital Marketing Solutions helps customers with social media, search engine marketing and optimization, retargeting, email marketing and more. The Daily Record is part of BridgeTower Media, one of the country’s leading business-to-business media companies with more than 40 print and digital publications in more than 25 U.S. markets.
Choptank Community Health presented Health Care Hero shirts to each staff member among its seven Mid-Shore locations on June 24, including those in its Fassett Magee center located in Cambridge, shown here.
2021 Health Care Heroes
Advancements and Innovation in Health Care
Johns Hopkins Medicine–Office of Well-Being
LifeBridge Health
Sheppard Pratt
Community Outreach/Education Hero
Individuals:
Megan E. Collins, M.D., MPH, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Gregory Hobelmann, M.D., MPH, Ashley Addiction Treatment
Dr. Marlene Mahipat, Mediquest LLC
Organizations:
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
Center for Hope
Mission of Mercy
COVID-19 Hero
Individuals:
Dr. Sonya J. Bruton, CCI Health & Wellness Services
Jen Crockett, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Kennedy Krieger Institute
Dr. Matthew Frieman, Ph.D., University of Maryland School of Medicine
Dr. Mona K. Gahunia, Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group
Brian T. Garibaldi, M.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine/Johns Hopkins Hospital
Kristina Grabbe, Jhpiego
Katie J. O’Conor M.D., Johns Hopkins Medicine
Judith Stambaugh, Carroll Hospital
Albert W. Wu, M.D., MPH, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Organizations:
Emergency Department, Ascension Saint Agnes
Choptank Community Health System
LifeBridge Health
Lifetime Achievement
Thomas D. Hess, MBA, M.Ed., Sheppard Pratt
Mark Katlic, M.D., Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
Lori Mulligan, Gilchrist
ZeljkoVujaskovic, M.D., Ph.D., University of Maryland School of Medicine and Maryland Proton Treatment Center
Nurse of the Year
Mariana A. Capati, Kaiser Permanente
James E. Gannon,MSN, RN, CEN, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
Ashley McAree, MSN, RN, Greater Baltimore Medical Center
Nurse Practitioner of the Year
Nancy S. Goldstein, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing & Johns Hopkins Hospital
Susan Renda, Johns Hopkins University
Tracie Schwoyer-Morgan, DNP, MS, ANP-BC, Gilchrist
Physician Assistant of the Year
Deborah L. Dunn, PA-C, MBA, Chase Brexton Health Service
Physician of the Year
Aaron J. Charles, M.D., CMD, CHMD, Gilchrist
Dr. Gabe Kelen, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Chesahna Kindred, M.D., MBA, FAAD, Kindred Hair & Skin Center
Dr. Elyse Pine, Chase Brexton Health Care
H. Neal Reynolds, M.D., University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center
Workplace Wellness Program of the Year
Gilchrist
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