News Story Detail

Sunshine returned to NorthBay Health Medical Center March 2, when the Acute Care Team in the Intensive Care Unit received two honors, which came with balloons, cards, letters, pins, snacks and even a trophy.

It marked the return of the “Secret Ray of Sunshine” awards for the organization, after an eight-month hiatus during budget recovery. In addition, NorthBay Health Foundation President Paul McGinty presented the ICU with a “Buzz Award” trophy from the Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce.  

“I had the honor of accepting the award in 2022 at an award ceremony, but you all are the reason we won the award in the first place,” he said. “You are the heroes of the pandemic.”

Critical Care Services Clinical Manager Jennifer Veler read aloud a letter that came with the Sunshine Award, telling her team:

• “You’ve become Proning Pros. You adopted your manual proning process for the ceiling lift and Golvo lift, improving safety for the patient and the proning team. Your team has perfected proning into a graceful art of acrobatics and precision as patients were turned from their backs onto their front sides with tubes and lines flowing like ribbons across an aerial arena.“
• “Your resilience and grit know no bounds... Your team has been fluid and flexible in adapting to altered work environments in the ICU. Your team overflowed into new territory on 2 North and in the PACU to provide ICU patient care in unfamiliar working environments. You managed to turn these spaces into mini-ICUs, bringing supplies and equipment so there would be no lag in providing competent patient care.
• You have held steadfast in your commitment to your co-workers. Amid the most challenging period of patient care in modern times, this team became more cohesive. Every team member was recognized for giving everything they had to offer, even though the exhaustion was evident. Not once did your leader hear blaming or back stabbing, but instead heard encouragement and kindness as the team bonded to battle a common foe.
• It was remarkable to see you collaborate with colleagues from other areas, as interdisciplinary teams stepped up to lend a hand.

Jennifer was happy to see her team earn both recognitions. 

“It is so well deserved and there is no better team,” she said. “We are like a second family, a cohesive unit over the past three years.”