Samaritan Celebrates June 2021 DAISY and BEE Award Recipients

Published on: July 9, 2021

Samaritan Medical Center is pleased to announce its DAISY and BEE Award recipients for June 2021. The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses® recognizes exemplary nursing staff at the hospital and all outpatient clinics, and the BEE Award honors other outstanding staff members who support patient care.

Pablo Otero, RN, OCN, of the Walker Center for Cancer Care, received the DAISY Award and Mark Cloonan, Storeroom Lead Worker, was honored with the BEE Award. Otero was nominated by a grateful patient, and Cloonan was nominated by a staff member at Samaritan Medical Center.

Otero received the DAISY Award for offering exceptional care, compassion, and friendship to his patients in the Cancer Center. His nominator, who has been a patient of his for a year and a half, credits Otero in large part for her lung cancer remission.

“At the Cancer Center, there are usually two nurse per unit, but he [Otero] always made time for me because he knew I needed a friend,” she writes. “I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t taken me under his wing and not given up and not let me give up. We fought together.”

For receiving the DAISY Award – which is an international award backed by The DAISY Foundation – Otero was presented a certificate commending him as an extraordinary nurse, a DAISY Award pin, and a symbolic sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” which is hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe. A larger version of this sculpture is on display in the Healing Gardens at Samaritan in honor of all DAISY and BEE Award winners. It was purchased using funds donated by the Samaritan Auxiliary.

Cloonan received the BEE Award for his positivity, follow-through, and willingness to help others.

“Mark is one of the most accommodating members of our Samaritan Team,” his nomination letter reads. “Whether you call him or meet him in the hall, he drops what he is doing to assist you with your request. He is a warm welcome to the patient-care areas as he makes his deliveries with such a cheerful and collaborative approach.”

Cloonan was presented a certificate, a BEE Award pin, and a gift bag with other tokens of gratitude.

Both awards will continue to be presented throughout the year, and nominations can be submitted by patients, families, or colleagues at any time. To make a nomination, or to learn more about the DAISY and BEE Awards, visit www.samaritanhealth.com/daisy-bee.

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