This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

St. Francis Names Quarterly DAISY Nursing Award Winner

Award recognizes a nurse making an outstanding difference in the lives of patients and families

Jennifer McGowan-Smith, Community Contributor
Mariah LeVac, RN, BSN, St. Francis Medical Center first quarter 2020 DAISY Award winner, holds her DAISY Award certificate and Healer’s Touch sculpture. She is pictured along with members of the St. Francis Nursing team.
Mariah LeVac, RN, BSN, St. Francis Medical Center first quarter 2020 DAISY Award winner, holds her DAISY Award certificate and Healer’s Touch sculpture. She is pictured along with members of the St. Francis Nursing team.

St. Francis Medical Center recently named Mariah LeVac, a Medical-Surgical nurse with St. Francis Medical Center, as its first quarter 2020 DAISY Nursing Award winner.

The award is presented in collaboration with The American Organization of Nurse Executives. It is part of the DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune System) Foundation’s program to recognize the super-human efforts nurses perform every day.

LeVac was nominated by a patient’s family for her extraordinary care. Her nominator wrote, “My mom doesn’t speak English. She was under Mariah’s care and Mariah made her feel completely comfortable and welcomed. She explained everything to me so that I could translate to my mom. She was able to get all of our questions answered. We needed extra help and Mariah delivered.”“I’m honored to have been chosen as a St. Francis’ DAISY award winner,” said LeVac. “My patients and their families are my top priority. I’m thankful to be recognized with this award and proud to be a part of the St. Francis nursing team.”

The DAISY Award was established in 2000 by the Barnes family in honor of J. Patrick Barnes, who died at age 33 of an auto-immune disease. The care Patrick and his family received inspired the family to thank nurses nationwide for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and families.

Find out what's happening in Hopewell-Penningtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

“We have an extraordinary nursing staff at St. Francis, and to be named the DAISY awardee speaks volumes to the patient-centered care that Mariah gives to our patients,” said Eddie Perez, RN, MHA, NE-BC, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, St. Francis Medical Center. During the award ceremony, Perez presented LeVac with the DAISY Foundation’s “Healer’s Touch” sculpture, as well as an award certificate and DAISY award pin.

To learn more about the DAISY award, visit https://www.daisyfoundation.org/daisy-award.

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Hopewell-Pennington