The Health Care Heroes award winners were announced Friday night during a ceremony at the Country Club of Landfall.

Longtime physicians Robert Andrews and James Hundley were named this year's Lifetime Achievement award honorees.

Recipients were also honored for excellence in 10 categories in the awards from the Greater Wilmington Business Journal. Each category had three finalists, and the following were chosen as the overall winners:

FIRST RESPONDER: In the First Responder Category, the winner was Charles R. “Tom” Collins, director of emergency management for Pender County.

HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL: For the Health Care Professional Category, the winner was Rachael Birkenhauer, certified lactation counselor for Lactation Counseling Services.

VOLUNTEER: In the Volunteer Category, the winner was Fran Salone-Pelletier, volunteer chaplain with Novant Health.

PHYSICIAN: In the Physician Category, the winner was retired physician William Eakins, of NHRMC Physician Group-New Hanover Medical Group.

NURSE: In the Nurse Category, the winner was Evalena Leonard, with Cape Fear Community College.

NURSE PRACTITIONER/PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT: In the Nurse Practitioner/Physician Assistant Category, the winner was Rand Pennington, a family/adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner with NHRMC Physician Group-New Hanover Medical Group.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH: In the Community Outreach Category, the winner was Jordyn Appel, community food access coordinator for Feast Down East.

COMMUNITY ACHIEVEMENT: In the Community Achievement Category, the winner was James Fish, president and CEO of Brunswick Senior Resources Inc. 

HEALTH CARE EXECUTIVE: In the Health Care Executive Category, the winner was Ashley Miller, director of development for the American Heart Association's local chapter.

INNOVATION: In the Innovation Category, the winner was Noah Miyazaki, vice president of business development for Miyazaki Enterprises LLC.