VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® recently honored six South Florida employees at the company’s prestigious national Employee Recognition Awards. They were cited for routinely going beyond their job descriptions to serve patients and fellow employees.

Nancy Fenton of Delray Beach, a patient care secretary in the Palm Beach County program, received the VITAS Award for Administrative Staff for her outstanding communication and customer service, ranging from visiting a patient to consoling a family in crisis. When the Palm Beach program was without power for weeks following Hurricane Wilma, Fenton worked out of the Orlando office—for 24 hours at a time when necessary—to field calls and cover for coworkers still recovering from the storm’s damage.

Honored from the Broward County program were Eileen McDermott, R.N., and Marlyn Wilson, CHHA.

McDermott, who lives in Coconut Creek, received the Outstanding Admissions Nurse award. Employed with VITAS since 2000, McDermott introduces the concept of hospice to new patients, their families and referral sources to help them make the most of end-of-life care. That was particularly challenging after McDermott was diagnosed with cancer, but she continued to care for others. “Eileen has an unwavering commitment to life and an amazing dedication to her profession,” says Kathy Ransone, director of a VITAS call center.

Wilson, a Certified Home Health Aide who has worked for VITAS since 1999, received the Founder’s Award for Outstanding Service. She has been known to spend her day off cleaning the home of a patient unable to do it herself—then stocking the refrigerator at her own expense. She lives in Lauderhill, where Hurricane Wilma left her condo uninhabitable. Despite her own troubles, within the week Wilson was visiting her neediest patients to make sure they had ice, water and medical supplies.

Honored from Miami-Dade were Amit Mangrola; Vivian Forte, RN; and Yvette Garcia.

Mangrola, who lives in Miami, received the Outstanding Customer Service Award. For six years he has been a programmer/analyst in the IT department of the corporate office, where his understanding of the company’s proprietary electronic medical records software has made him the go-to guy. He handles calls during his off hours and has traveled to field offices to lend his expertise when there are questions about the innovative computer program. “Though not directly involved in patient care, I help those who are, and through them I feel I’ve made a difference,” Mangrola says.

Forte, a resident of Kendall, goes out of her way, literally and figuratively, to care for VITAS patients. “There are no boundaries to how far Vivian goes,” says Patient Care Administrator Maite Hernandez of this new employee, who received the Emmy Philhour Rookie Caregiver of the Year award. As soon as she had electricity following Hurricane Wilma, Forte collected dirty linens and clothes from the facilities where her VITAS patients live, returning them clean and folded, along with baskets of food, to still-dark assisted living facilities.

Yvette Garcia, a resident of Miami, received the Outstanding Admissions Coordinator Award for meeting the needs of a diverse community of patients and families in South Florida. “When someone has special cultural or faith-based needs, Yvette learns what she needs to know to do her job and reassure her patients,” says supervisor Marcia Rami. As the first impression of VITAS for both professional referral sources and patients, Garcia has helped the program grow during the four years she has been with VITAS.

The six are among the “best of the best” chosen annually from VITAS’ 8,334 employees.