Every month, PPMC staff members who embody Service, Teamwork, Achievement, and Respect are named Presby STARs. In addition to earning recognition from their colleagues, these outstanding all-stars also receive a certificate from CEO Michele Volpe and a $100 award.
By Daphne Sashin
Every day at PPMC, staff members show a level of kindness, compassion, and dedication to patient care that makes their colleagues proud. That was apparent the day Trauma Center Outpatient Practice Coordinator Roseann Jeffers, MSN, took a call from a patient with a complication after her injury. The patient had a two-month-old baby at home, had no ride to the clinic, and was reluctant to come in.
“Knowing we could not rule out that this concern was life-threatening over the phone, Roseann sent an Uber to the patient’s house to bring her to the visit so her family member could stay home with the baby,” said Sunny Jackson, MSN, injury prevention coordinator at the Trauma Center. “I’m proud and honored to work with a nurse who would go to this length to make sure the patient was OK.”
Similarly, Bridget Merenda, a certified nursing assistant on CUPP Pavilion 3 South, was quick to volunteer when she overheard Nurse Practitioner Colleen Ianni, MSN, CRNP, tell a patient that she was uncomfortable letting them ride home alone in their motorized wheelchair.
“Bridget happened to be in the room at the time and without hesitation said she would walk with the patient and make sure they got into their building,” Ianni said. “She updated me the next day and said she walked with them to the door of their apartment building and made sure they entered safely. I am so glad I work at PPMC with people like Bridget!”
That level of commitment is always on display when physical therapist Suzanne Zukoski, MSPT, is working with older patients at the Acute Care for Elderly (ACE) unit. Zukoski makes sure every patient assigned to her is mobilized to some extent every day that she’s there, said Lisa Walke, MD, MSHA, chief of Geriatric Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine. “I once saw her ambulate a patient who was … not fully extending her legs. Suzanne literally supported the patient’s legs with her own in order for the patient to bear some weight on her legs,” Walke said. “What I found even more impressive was that Suzanne gave 150 percent for this patient for several months while she waited for a subacute rehab bed.”
Thank you to all of our STARs for your unwavering commitment and compassion. You are an inspiration to your patients, colleagues, and community!
FEBRUARY 2022
- Taner Tunca – Nursing Administration - Resource Nurse RN
- Elijah Al-Shabaz – Periop Support Services - Perioperative Assistant
- Roseann Jeffers – Trauma-Surg Critical - Ambulatory Nurse II
- Suzanne Zukoski – PT-Inpatient (GSPP) - Physical Therapist
- Adam Wasiakowski – Physical Therapist (GSPP) - Senior Physical Therapist
JANUARY 2022
- Kim Calhoun – Post Anesthesia Hospital - Clinical Nurse 4
- Gabriela Ferreiro – Cherry Hill Infusion - Clinical Services Associate
- Samantha Norton – Trauma Advanced Providers - Physician Assistant
- Melissa White – CUPP Pavilion 5 South - Clinical Nurse 2-Inpatient
- Ryan Guinup – Nursing Administration - CNA
DECEMBER 2021
- Bridget Merenda – CUPP Pavilion 3 South - CNA
- Ryan Bernard – NeuroIntensive Care Unit - PRN MOB Pool Nursing
- Angela Sobers – Periop Support Services - Perioperative Assistant