Samaritan Announces Volunteer Service Award Winners

Published on: August 8, 2024

Watertown, N.Y. – At Samaritan, there are volunteers who serve at the hospital, long term care facilities, special events, off-site offices and on various boards of our respective entities. Initiated in 2023, the HIVE (Helpful Indeed – Volunteering Excellence) Award is a way to honor those volunteers who have contributed an extraordinary level of dedication and shown exceptional service to Samaritan while consistently demonstrating the organization’s HEART values, which are Honest, Empathetic, Accountable, Respect, and Trustworthy.

Why HIVE? The beehive is symbolic of teamwork, unity, growth, and development. At Samaritan, we are all caregivers, including those who have committed to showing extraordinary compassionate care as a volunteer. We need each other to care for our community.

The HIVE Award complements the existing DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses®, the BEE Award (Being Excellent Every Day) honoring other outstanding staff members who support patient care, at the hospital and all outpatient clinics, and the OWL (Outstanding Workers in Long Term Care) for the team of caregivers at the Samaritan Keep Home and Samaritan Summit Village. Altogether, we recognize the amazing caregivers of the Samaritan Health System and the culture we embrace.

The recipients for the second quarter of 2024, and proudly representing people supported by The Arc Jefferson – St. Lawrence’s Community Pre-Vocational Program, are Emily Sweet, Molly Costa, Teresa Salter, Diana Gervera, Shawn Norton, Sheri Baker, and Kasey Gardner. This team of volunteer caregivers have worked hard to support our dietary services team.

Kristan Donoghue, the manager of Volunteer Services, said, “This team of volunteers has worked hard each shift to support the needs of our cafeteria and elsewhere. They enter the facility with smiling faces and truly demonstrate HEART values in all they do. Congratulations, team!”

Those interested in recognizing a Samaritan volunteer may submit an online nomination at samaritanhealth.com/hive there are also paper nomination forms available at the Medical Center and Samaritan Summit Village gift shops. 

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