JPS Health Network and two of its team members are finalists for prestigious D CEO Magazine Excellence in Healthcare awards.
“This is a great accomplishment, as the competition this year was especially tough,” Will Maddox,
Managing Editor of D CEO Magazine said in a release. “All finalists will be recognized in a special feature in the December issue of D CEO, at dmagazine.com, D CEO Healthcare, and at an exclusive event later this year.”
As a whole, JPS is one of four finalists in the category of Outstanding Health System. The local recognition comes following the announcement over the summer that the health network was rated the number one hospital in the country by Washington Monthly Magazine using a ranking system created in conjunction with the Lown Institute.
“I’m so proud of each and every member of our team,” said Robert Earley, President and CEO of JPS. “Not one of our 7,200 team members comes to work every day for the purpose of trying to win awards. They do it because they care about the health of the people of Tarrant County. But, especially in the trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s tremendously gratifying to know their efforts are being noticed.”
Partnering with a variety of city leaders and community organizations provides multidisciplinary insight into ways we can work together with purpose; to create change in healthcare systems that positively impacts the lives of the communities we all serve.
Two JPS leaders have been recognized individually.
Mary Ann Contreras, Manager of Violence and Injury Prevention is a finalist in the category of Outstanding Healthcare Advocate while Devon Armstrong, Director of Care Management, Outpatient, is a finalist in the Outstanding Health System Innovator group.
Contreras has worked tirelessly to create programs and policies to identify and assist people who are the victims of intimate partner violence and human trafficking. Her initiatives have helped create a way out of their otherwise hopeless situations by allowing patients to discretely ask for the help they need and then providing them with support and resources patients need to be successful in regaining their independence.
“I am grateful for the honor to be named as a finalist for the D CEO Healthcare Advocacy award,” Contreras said. “Partnering with a variety of city leaders and community organizations provides multidisciplinary insight into ways we can work together with purpose; to create change in healthcare systems that positively impacts the lives of the communities we all serve.”
Armstrong rose to the tremendous challenge COVID-19 has presented, leading the effort to create a home monitoring program for patients infected which included the delivery of supplemental oxygen to their residences. Armstrong’s efforts not only freed up beds inside the hospital for the sickest patients, but it also allowed less critical patients the opportunity to recover in the comfort of their home.
“I’m totally shocked,” Armstrong said of learning she was nominated for the award and a finalist to receive it. “It totally caught me off guard. COVID has been a rollercoaster for all of us. The thing that has kept me going day in and day out is that I never lost sight of the value of our care to the patients. That’s what kept me grounded. This has been the most rewarding year I’ve spent at JPS, which is odd because the pandemic has made it the toughest.”
Armstrong said she hopes the things JPS has learned about remote COVID care will help it to provide a broader range of at-home care for people with other types of health concerns long after COVID-19 is over.
The date and location of the seventh annual D CEO Excellence in Healthcare Awards ceremony has not yet been announced. More information will be coming soon.