Barbara Epes, Manager of Community Relations at Coral Springs Medical Center (CSMC) and Weston Regional HealthPark (WRHP), was awarded the 2004 Lisa Philipps Human Resource Leadership Award. The annual award is presented to a manager of the North Broward Hospital District (NBHD) in memory of Lisa Crowley Philipps, the former Chief Human Resource Officer and long time employee who passed away in 1998. Barbara was nominated by her employees and CEO for demonstrating the highest level of human resource leadership skills.

(l to r) Michael Crowley, Lisa Philipps’ brother; Chuck Crowley, Lisa Philipps’ father; Barbara Epes; Terry Crowley, Lisa Philipps’ mother and Wil Trower, President/Chief Executive Officer, NBHD.

Under Barbara’s leadership, the community relations department developed several initiatives to benefit both the medical center and the community such as:

• Pediatric Drowning Prevention Taskforce, which has become instrumental in educating the community on water safety. Serving as co-chair, Barbara successfully obtained a grant for $47,500 to fund this educational campaign.
• Creation of a weight loss program for adolescents through a grant obtained from the City of Coral Springs. Epes and her team also helped implement a special fitness class for adolescents who are mentally and physically challenged.
• Expanded outreach efforts to seniors by adding new programs to meet their needs.
• Launched a Volunteer Incentive Program, recruiting more than 120 NBHD employees to participate in hospital and community projects. These volunteers are rewarded at the end of the year in accordance with the amount of hours tallied.

In addition, Epes serves on numerous committees at both facilities and in the community including the Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce, the Tamarac Chamber of Commerce, Coral Springs Youth & Family Committee, CSMC’s Teamworks Committee, CSMC Community Relations Council, Weston Regional HealthPark’s Community Relations Council and the District Communication Workgroup.