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Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year feature image (From left) OHA Board President Michael Canady, MD, joined Lindsey Mills of 10TV News to recognize the five finalists for the 2023 Health Care Worker of the Year award: Tina Kilburn-Stewart, Manager, Hope Foraker, Natalie Thomas, Thomas File and Burlin Sherrick. OHA's Mike Abrams, right, presented these honors, along with the OHA Leadership Awards.

Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year

OHA’s Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award is presented each year to one Ohio caregiver who personifies a leader, motivates colleagues, influences others, provides valuable service and contributes, personifies the mission, vision and values of the organization, and has an impact in their community.

2024 Health Care Worker of the Year Presentation

OHA has opened the call for nominations for the 2024 Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year. See the nomination process section below to learn more. The award will be presented on Tuesday, June 11 at OHA's Recognition Dinner during OHA's 109th Annual Meeting & Education Summit.

The Annual Meeting & Education Summit, a premier educational forum for Ohio’s hospital leaders, will be held on June 10-12, 2024 at the Hilton Columbus at Easton.
 

Eligibility

Each member hospital is invited to nominate one individual who has not been nominated previously by that organization. Health systems may submit one nomination on behalf of each of their member hospitals, or select one nominee to represent the entire health system.

Eligible persons must be a current employee of an OHA member hospital. The nominee should be a direct caregiver but that is not a requirement. Employed physicians are eligible to be nominated and receive the award. Support personnel are also eligible if they exemplify the qualities represented by this award.
 

How to Submit a Nomination

In addition to completing the online nomination, two digital photographs of the nominee must be submitted to Amber Yors by the deadline:

  • Headshot - a front-on photograph of the nominee with minimal or no surroundings

  • Environmental - an action shot to show the nominee doing his or her job in the work setting. Photos that include patient interaction are encouraged. Please edit out any protected health information.

  • Photograph tips

Judging Criteria

A panel of outside reviewers will rate each nomination based on the narrative provided for each of the following criteria. Each nomination should highlight the nominee's most notable achievements and describe how the nominee embodies the following qualities of the Health Care Worker of the Year:

  • Motivation – Describe the nominee’s ability to motivate and inspire colleagues, partners, etc. to advance the mission of the organization (Emphasize their passion for a cause, resilience to overcome an issue, etc.)
  • Influence – Describe the nominee’s ability to influence others such as serving as a role model or mentoring others.
  • Action – Explain the nominee’s service and contributions that reflect merit recognition as a noteworthy health care worker including accomplishments despite obstacles.
  • Alignment – Describe the nominee’s actions to support the mission, vision, and values of the organization and emphasize a specific example(s) of contributions towards a specific value.
  • Community Impact – Describe the impact of the nominee’s contributions to the community your organization serves such as a program or initiative that had an impactful result in the community.

In addition, you will be asked to provide a brief summary and photos that will be used in promotions on the OHA website and in OHA publications. 

2023 Honorees and Finalists

Congratulations to this year's Health Care Worker of the Year:

  • Hope Foraker, CCC-SLP, Speech Language Pathologist, Southeastern Ohio Medical Center, OhioHealth

2023 Finalists:

  • Tina Kilburn-Stewart, Manager, Clinical Nursing, Kettering Health Dayton
  • Natalie Thomas, RN, Human Resources Recruitment Specialist, Licking Memorial Hospital
  • Thomas File, MD, MSc, FIDSA, Chair of the Infectious Disease Division and Co-Director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program, Summa Health
  • Burlin Sherrick, Executive Director of Executive Director of Ancillary Services, Lima Memorial Health System

All Nominees:

  • Click here to view all the 2023 Health Care Worker of the Year Nominees