PRESS RELEASE
CANTON RESIDENT RECEIVES NEW ENGLAND SINAI HOSPITAL
2009 COMPASSIONATE CAREGIVER AWARD
STOUGHTON, MA — Emily Appel, RN, a Canton resident and registered nurse at New England Sinai Hospital, has been chosen as the 2009 recipient of the hospital’s prestigious Milton W. Woolfson Compassionate Caregiver of the Year Award. “Compassionate caregiving is at the core of Sinai’s reputation as a center for pulmonary excellence and complex medical care, and for 82 years, Sinai has been providing an exceptional level of compassionate care. It is my great honor to recognize Emily for delivering such wonderful care to our patients, which she has done with compassion, dignity and respect,” said Sinai President and CEO Lester P. Schindel.
The Compassionate Caregiver is someone whose approach to providing outstanding medical care to Sinai patients includes an extraordinary capacity for empathy and compassion. Compassionate Caregivers are exceptional in their ability to listen, to comfort and treat patients lovingly and with sensitivity and respect. They seem to have an innate ability to preserve the dignity of the patients in their care, and support them and their families in the most difficult times.
Described as an extremely competent and knowledgeable clinician who takes great pride in her profession, Appel was praised for her total devotion to her patients. Patients and their families have described her as “heartfelt, always helpful, intuitive, gentle and a fine person who just makes me feel better by taking the time to chat with me.” Staff and co-workers praised her gift for transforming the lives of those in her care and pleasing even the most demanding patients.
Nursing is Appel’s second career. After graduating second in her class from the University of Massachusetts Boston School of Nursing in 2005, Appel applied to work at Sinai’s main campus location in Stoughton. “But, the short commute is not the reason I stayed. Being able to truly make a difference in each patient’s life gives me a great feeling and the environment at Sinai feels like family to me,” she said.
Appel is the fourth person at Sinai to receive the Milton W. Woolfson Compassionate Caregiver Award, and one of 14 nominated as finalists. The award was established in 2006 to convey the hallmark of Sinai patient care and the manner in which it is delivered. The award is named for a gift made to honor the memory of Dr. Milton Woolfson who was a patient at Sinai in 1996-97. Deeply moved by the compassion, warmth and caring her husband received and the support she was provided, his wife Judy felt compelled to help Sinai strengthen its mission. Nominations for the award are submitted by a Sinai employee, physician, patient or family member. All paid hospital staff and members of the medical staff are eligible. The selection committee includes Sinai staff, administration, board, board of advisors and community members.
The finalists nominated for the 2009 Milton W. Woolfson Compassionate Caregiver Award Finalists are:
– Connie Barksdale, PA-C of Abington
– Sue Beckwith, LPN of Attleboro
– Rev. Jennifer Casstevens Lopez of Arlington
– Mark Farnum, PA-C of Marshfield
– Nancy Cloud, LPN of Kingston
– Sweden Culver, NA IV of Stoughton
– Sue Esty, PT of Walpole
– Cynthia Medeiros, LSW of Onset
– Heidi O’Connor, MD of Waltham
– Linda Powers, NA III and Vivian Sternweiler, RN, CWCN of Sharon
– Tanya Winders, PT of Dedham
New England Sinai Hospital is a 212-bed, non-sectarian, not-for-profit, long-term acute-care hospital with its main campus in Stoughton, MA and inpatient satellite units at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston and Caritas Carney Hospital in Dorchester. Recognized as a regional leader in pulmonary, medically complex and acute rehabilitation care, Sinai also offers a wide range of outpatient programs and services. Sinai is a teaching affiliate of Tufts University School of Medicine.
Contact:
Carole Herrup
Public Relations Director
New England Sinai Hospital
150 York Street
Stoughton, MA 02072
Tel. 781-297-1329
FAX: 781-297-7509