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Going above and beyond the call of duty

UPMC honors staff whose everyday actions exceed the high level of service people have come to expect from UPMC

Each year, countless UPMC employees go above and beyond the call of duty to provide excellent service to patients or other staff. UPMC honors these individuals with the Award for Commitment and Excellence in Service (ACES), given to fewer than 1 percent of UPMC employees.

ACES winners can be found in all areas of UPMC. Tell us about a co-worker or team that exemplifies an unwavering level of service and commitment. Nominations must be submitted by Tuesday, June 30.

Some examples of past ACES are:

• The front lobby concierge who is an ambassador of kindness, providing direction with a smile, staying late to keep an elderly patient company, praying with patients and families, assisting co-workers, and serving her hospital with a generous heart.
• A maternity nurse who tended lovingly to a heartbroken mother and her stillborn son, giving a grief-stricken young woman the emotional permission to hold her lost son, to rock him, swaddle him, and treasure him in those short, precious moments. The child’s mother said it restored her wavering faith and gave her heart to go on.
• The information technology consultant, who in supporting the transplant physicians and patients, came in on his day off to set up a computer and video camera for a recovering transplant patient from Ohio so that she could see and speak with her family.
• The security supervisor who went out of his way to help a patient with a flat tire get back on the road home after an exhausting day of chemotherapy.
• A pediatric nurse whose bond with an 8-year-old patient was so strong that it extended past the hospital when the boy’s condition took a downturn and he was admitted to the intensive care unit while she was away on vacation. Unable to speak, his eyes would widen when she called each day, and upon her return with the gift of a teddy bear, his eyes widened even more with the excitement and pleasure of seeing her.

To submit a nomination, visit the ACES section of Infonet and complete the online nomination form.

The 2009 ACES winners will be selected in July by each hospital or business unit and honored across UPMC in the fall.