Here are the finalists in the 2016 Health Care Heroes Community Achievement category.

Honors an individual or team who successfully implemented a program addressing a problem in health care administration or delivery.
 

Robin Hicken

TITLE: Co-founder

ORGANIZATION: Meagan & Austin’s Continued Journey

WHAT THE NOMINATOR SAID: “Robin Hicken, along with her co-founder Teresa Yates, came together to help solve an issue common to moms that have babies born sleeping.

They formed an organization they named The Continuing Journey of Meagan and Austin. One out of every 160 pregnancies in the U.S. ends with a stillbirth. Nine years ago … Robin’s son Austin became part of that statistic.

Teresa Yates shares a similar experience with her daughter Meagan. Teresa and Robin came together in July 2016 to host an event to raise money for a Cuddle Cot for each of the facilities where their babies were born – Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center and Grand Strand Regional Medical Center.

In one event, the two women raised enough to purchase Cuddle Cots for both facilities, and now have a mission to ensure every hospital in North and South Carolina has a Cuddle Cot. The Cuddle Cot is a cooling system for a Moses basket bassinet that allows families to extend the amount of time they have to spend with their child.”

-Amy Myers, Novant Health
 

Chip Munna

TITLE: SERAC regional trauma coordinator

ORGANIZATION: New Hanover Regional Medical Center

WHAT THE NOMINATOR SAID: “Chip coordinates the Critical Incident Stress Management defusings (CISM) to southeastern North Carolina for volunteers, EMS, nurses, physicians, firefghters and law enforcement.

This process is a vital mental/emotional band-aid to enable a health care worker to identify past successful coping skills currently forgotten due to the magnitude of what the person has recently experienced.

Health care workers are typically very caring people who provide care to the people who have suffered horrendous injuries. Reliving – secondhand – these traumatic events has been shown to have significant effects on the health and life of the involved health care worker.

Chip’s dedication to enable this ‘defusing’ process to any SENC health care worker is extraordinarily high as he makes himself available every day to ensure this assistance is available to the people who are helping people dealing with extremely difficult and often very sad life-changing events.”

-Kim Royer, NHRMC trauma program manager
 

Antonio Puente

TITLE: Clinical neuropsychologist

ORGANIZATION: Clinical Neuropsychology

WHAT THE NOMINATOR SAID: “Dr. Puente has demonstrated abilities and diverse accomplishments that are admirable to many: to his peers in the health care arena; his patients and students; and also many residents in the Wilmington community.

As a UNCW professor [of psychology] mentoring students, practicing neuropsychologist, founding member of the nonprofit Cape Fear Clinic that serves the neediest in our community, a volunteer at his church on Wrightsville Beach and most recently, president-elect of a 125,000-member professional organization, the American Psychological Association, he has energy that is boundless.

It amazes me that he even finds time on some mornings to surf at Wrightsville Beach! As a Cuban-born immigrant to the U.S. and a Rhodes scholar, Dr. Puente exemplifies the best of what health care professionals can aspire to be ... Tony Puente would be a good choice for Health Care Hero as an executive, national leader, health innovator, professional and volunteer.”

-George Clarke, former patient