Nursing Awards

Lydia Velez, BSN, MSN, Receives Hospital Manager of the Year Award

Lydia Velez, BSN, MSN, Administrative Nurse Manager at Montefiore Medical Center’s Einstein Campus, has received the 2012 Hospital Manager of the Year Award from the Association of Hispanic Healthcare Executives, a New York City-based organization.  

Born and raised in the Bronx, Ms. Velez has worked at Montefiore for 26 years, holding increasingly senior leadership roles in Oncology, Neurology, Medicine, Cardiac Step-down, the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and the Emergency Department.  She is widely admired for her pioneering work in performance improvement to enhance patient satisfaction and for her longstanding commitment to developing the talents and capabilities of her staff.

CHAM Nurse Named Finalist in Nursing Excellence Awards

Laura Holihan, RN, RN, BSN, CPEN, Administrative Nurse Manager, Emergency Department, The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, is a finalist in Nurse.com’s Nursing Excellence Awards for New York and New Jersey in the Staff Patient Management category.

Lorraine Lamm, RN, Wins Novice Nurse of the Year Award

Lorraine Lamm, RN, Labor and Delivery, North Campus, won the Novice Nurse of the Year award at 1199SEIU League/Training and Employment Funds’ ninth annual Nurse of Distinction awards ceremony last month. Thomas Fitzsimons, RN, Operating Room, North Campus, and Bernadette Keelan, RN, NICU, North Campus, were nominees, respectively, in the Nurse of Distinction and Nurse Preceptor of the Year categories.

Outstanding Nurse Receives Coveted Joan H. Bilder Award

The 23rd Annual Joan H. Bilder Award has been presented to Patricia Dosso, RN, BSN, a staff nurse in the Weiler Medical Surgical Intensive Care Unit since 1996. The award was created in memory of Joan H. Bilder, RN, MSN, who served as Associate Director of Nursing at Montefiore from 1965 until her death in 1987. The award is given to encourage excellence in clinical nursing. Ms. Bilder served as a role model for improving the standards of patient care.

"We are proud to continue the tradition of nursing excellence at Montefiore," said Joanne Ritter-Teitel, RN, PhD, CNAA, BC, Vice President and Chief Nurse Executive. "Joan Bilder has been an inspiration to all nursing professionals who are dedicated to making Montefiore a premier academic medical center."

Thirty-one years ago, Patricia Dosso began her career at Montefiore as a staff nurse in Pediatrics at the Einstein Campus. Since 1996, she has been a staff nurse in the Weiler Medical Surgical Intensive Care Unit. As a highly motivated and experienced nurse, Ms. Dosso has consistently provided excellent patient care.

She seeks to provide patients with the best outcome but also meet their personal needs, including language, cultural and spiritual needs and other special concerns. She does not accept the status quo. She has received numerous salutes and letters from patients thanking her for "exceptional and extremely professional care" and an "extraordinary amount of compassion."

As a mentor to nurses, Dosso shares her strong clinical knowledge with staff and student nurses in an organized, systematic, and effective way. She is attentive to the needs of her student nurses. Dosso instinctively knows when she should provide support or autonomy and always gives ample encouragement and constructive criticism. Her peers describe her as a very supportive and caring coworker.

Joan O'Hanlon Curry, RN, MS, CPNO, CPON, Wins Dr. Patricia Greene Leadership Award

Joan O'Hanlon Curry, RN, MS, CPNO, CPON, Administrative Nurse Manager and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, was awarded the Dr. Patricia Greene Leadership Award from the Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (APHON) at its 32nd annual conference, held in New Mexico. Recipients, who are selected by the APHON board of directors for demonstrating excellence in service to and leadership of APHON, received a $1,000 honorarium and recognition in the annual conference program book, APHON Counts. Joan was also chosen as the 2007 Certified Pediatric Oncology Nurse of the Year by the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation for her significant contributions to pediatric oncology nursing and oncology nursing service.

Marcia Ellis, RN, Receives Dr. Mary Guinness Professional Nursing Award

Marcia Ellis, RN, is the care management coordinator in the Utilization Department at the Moses Campus. Marcia earned her nursing degree at the College of New Rochelle and a master's degree in nursing education from Mercy College. She was awarded the Dr. Mary Guinness Professional Nursing Award for professionalism in the field of nursing. Ms. Ellis was honored for her efforts in New York state government, lobbying for nurses' rights regarding safe work environments and staffing.