IRVING, TX – A salute to the North Texas hospital workforce, the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council Foundation’s (DFWHC Foundation) Annual Employee of the Year Luncheon celebrated its 15th year April 26 with the announcement of the 2011 recipients at the Irving Convention Center. Eleven winners were introduced from a pool of 48 area hospitals.
“This event paid tribute to the healthcare heroes of North Texas – our nurses, technicians, educators and so many other dedicated professionals working in our hospitals,” said Kristin Jenkins, president of the DFWHC Foundation. “This event is an opportunity to honor the positive spirit and tireless efforts of those employees allowing our hospitals to function smoothly.”
The recipients were:
Physician Award
- Dr. Paul Whatley, Orthopedic Surgeon, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Denton
Community Service Award
- Ruth Aguilar, Housekeeping Aide, Methodist Richardson Medical Center
System Award
- Sandra Minatra, Public Relations Coordinator, Methodist Health System
Special Recognition Awards
- Diana Weeks, Imaging Support Specialist, Hunt Regional Medical Center
- Christopher Jackway, Nuclear Medicine Tech II, Baylor Medical Center at Carrollton
- Daniel Cruz, Pharmacy Tech II, UT Southwestern University Hospitals
- Kenneth Randolph-Ellis, Registered Nurse, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth
Employee of the Year Awards
- Michelle Pinker, Nurse Supervisor, Our Children’s House at Baylor
- Tonya Pena, Clinical Coordinator, Methodist Mansfield Medical Center
- Denice Taylor, Registered Dietition, Texas Health Arlington Memorial Hospital
- Deborah Jean-Gilles, Administrative Assistant, Baylor All Saints Medical Center Fort Worth
Board members of the Dallas-Fort Worth Healthcare Human Resources Association judged the nominations with the names of individuals and hospitals removed. Board members based their selection on the facts presented. This year’s luncheon was sponsored by Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP, GroupOne Services, Inc. and WaveTwo.
The DFWHC Foundation is a non-profit 501c3 public charity with a mission to continually improve the community’s health by promoting safe, high quality, cost effective, accessible and equitable healthcare and by strengthening the healthcare workforce through education, research and collaboration.