Take a look back at some of our past winners
Our Everyday Champion Quality Award honors someone who goes above and beyond to improve the quality of care provided to patients, despite not necessarily working in a quality improvement or leadership role.
As you decide the Everyday Champion for 2019, we’re looking back at some of the winners from previous years. We’ve seen inspiring work from across the continuum of care – all of it showing creativity, strength and a desire to change our health care system for the better.
Take a closer look at three of our past winners that truly embody what it means to be an Everyday Champion!
ShelleyLynn Gardner
Rehabilitation Assistant, Surrey Memorial Hospital
ShelleyLynn’s dedication to improving care can be seen in the many diverse and well-received events and initiatives she has led. Her efforts have included: a peer-recognition program called Pay It Forward, a Mental Health Awareness Week, and spearheading Change Day and “What Matters to You?” Day at her organization; she has also created social events that build team culture and relationships, such as an annual staff barbecue.
A particularly impactful program she led was “Puppy Love” days, a series provides education to staff, teaching the difference between service dogs and therapy dogs, and their roles within health care settings. As a result of Puppy Love days, pet therapy interventions increased at Surrey Memorial Hospital.
These examples demonstrate how ShelleyLynn’s efforts, ingenuity and empathy have improved care at Surrey Memorial Hospital in large and small ways and led to positive ripple effects across Fraser Health and beyond.
Read more about ShelleyLynn’s work.
Bas Kervel
Manager of Facilities and Housekeeping, Menno Place
Bas Kervel was our 2014 winner, whose commitment to providing the best possible care resulted in an innovative new cleaning system. As the Manager of Facilities and Housekeeping at Abbotsford’s Menno Place, Bas oversaw the quality of cleaning in the facility’s six buildings. Several instances of housekeeping team members suffering allergic reactions and sensitivity to cleaning products as well as his concern for residents who suffer cognitive impairment motivated Bas to create a new cleaning method: an aqueous ozone system that provides chemical-free cleaning, sanitizing and stain removal by infusing tap water with ozone. This innovative new system alleviated concern for residents who could not verbalize when they were suffering an effect from the chemicals’ fragrances or vapours, as well as residents unable to leave the facility when the fragrances waft through the air.
After consulting with Fraser Health and WorkSafeBC, leading a six-month trial and training his 30 housekeeping staff on the new system, Bas helped Menno Place become the first residential care facility in BC to use an aqueous ozone system for cleaning. In 2014, it was estimated that staff productivity increased by 50% since they began using the aqueous ozone system.
Dennis Jang
Drug Distribution Coordinator, BC Cancer Agency – Vancouver Centre Pharmacy
Dennis was the first ever winner of the Everyday Champion Award!
Dispensing chemotherapy is a complex process that requires coordination at many steps. Facing an increasing patient population and limited resources, Dennis led a team that looked to speed up the delivery of charts for patients being treated on intravenous chemotherapy to the pharmacy. In only a few months, the number of charts that met the team’s delivery time standard almost doubled. Dennis also implemented a program called “Daily Management,” which involves a quick team huddle to review the previous day’s work and look for process improvement.
Dennis also committed to taking the LEAN training program to become a facilitator so that he could help the department become even more efficient and safe.
While we’ve only highlighted three of our past winners, all of our winners have led impactful projects and initiatives to improve care. We encourage you to learn about each of them. Click here to see all our Everyday Champion Award winners and runners-up from the past 6 years.
