Tenet Heroes Hall of Fame

2020 Honorees

Stefani Bohmfalk

As Clinical Manager, Stefani was instrumental in developing the first COVID-19 unit at Baptist Medical Center (BMC) in anticipation of the arrival of quarantined passengers from the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship and Wuhan evacuees. She established COVID isolation zones, triage and PPE processes, as well as scheduling and infection control practices. Early on, Stefani volunteered in New York City and used her experience there to develop best practices and processes at BMC. She is a Sepsis Champion and developed a Code Sepsis algorithm, improving code calling compliance by over 15%. Stefani is active in the hospital’s Celebration Committee, Resuscitation Committee, ED Admit Process Task Force, Stroke Committee, and Chest Pain Committee, and attends regional ED Council and STRAC meetings. Above and beyond these clinical achievements, is Stefani’s dedication to her patients. She gets to know patients personally and keeps in touch with many after their discharge; she still communicates with the hospital’s first suspected COVID patient through cards and letters.

Karin Brown

Karin currently serves as the facility’s clinical director. She brings valuable military experience, starting at age 18 as a combat medic, to the Center for Advanced Surgery. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Karin was deployed to support continued surgical procedures for the Marine Corps in Camp Pendleton.

At the facility, Karin is known for improving communication between departments by helping to incorporate daily huddles into the center’s routine. She values teamwork and can be found providing patient care, taking the garbage out, unpacking boxes, mentoring and coaching others, providing empathy and comfort for patients and helping with service recovery. Karin recognizes the hard work of her team and was integral in implementing the “Kudos Board” for staff notes of appreciation.

Karin’s team was particularly impressed with her efforts to highlight the importance of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. She hosted a pumpkin decorating contest, helping to raise over $1,700 for a local charity called Impact One Breast Cancer Foundation that provides “Hope Boxes” for women who have been newly diagnosed with breast cancer.

Minda Cachola

A Certified Nursing Assistant with 28 years of experience at Desert Regional Medical Center, it is more than Minda’s clinical skills that make her so exceptional. Minda works on a designated COVID-Care Unit. She recognized how isolated her patients felt and took extra steps to make them feel better: hanging up photos of loved ones on the walls of hospital rooms, making sure that video visits happened, and spending hours talking with patients, calming their fears, and praying with those who asked.

As one patient wrote, “Minda was truly an angel on earth and I will forever be grateful for her care, compassion, and tireless work. Putting yourself and loved ones at risk to help others is the most noble act of selfless love. So many days I was afraid, and I was comforted by her during the most terrifying experience of my life.” Her efforts were so outstanding that local businesses and the NBC news station recognized her as a “Healthcare Hero.” Minda is a shining example of the people that make Desert Regional “a community built on care.”

Santiago D. Chambers, CHSP CHEP

Out of the four hospitals and thousands of staff comprising the OCLA Tenet Health Market, we are proud to recognize Santiago Chambers as the winner of the 2020 Tenet Heroes Hall of Fame award. He serves as Fountain Valley Regional’s Manager of Environment of Care and Hospital Safety Officer. Always professional and humble, Santiago goes above and beyond his duties regularly, but never seeks attention for his thoughtfulness and attention to delivering top-notch work and a caring touch. He is known as the rock the hospital can depend on; throughout 2020, he demonstrated his values in extraordinary ways. Santiago helped lead the Fountain Valley COVID-19 response in addition to his regular workload. From hospital incident command, to developing special protocols for care of the deceased, he regularly came in during off-hours to assist. His contributions make a big difference to the hospital, the community, and to the company. As a part-time minister, Santiago serves a higher power, and because of this, he delivers professionalism to our hospital, service to our patients, and compassion to his fellow man. He has made Fountain Valley Regional Hospital a better place and we are forever grateful to have him on our team.

Art Dominguez Jr., RN

Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center
San Luis Obispo, CA

Carlye Gilbert

Carlye is the Market Infection Preventionist for Hilton Head Regional Healthcare. As someone who is known for her can-do attitude and tireless work ethic, Carlye has become a trusted resource for her colleagues and community. Carlye’s tenacity and zeal for knowledge serve her well in the Infection Preventionist role. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Carlye has committed herself to avid research and continued education. She has been a driving force in the development of COVID-19 screening, testing and tracing protocols. Coastal Carolina Hospital has been a multi-time recipient of numerous Zero Harm Awards from the South Carolina Hospital Association, thanks in large part to Carlye’s attention to detail when developing, leading and executing processes to prevent hospital-acquired infections.

Julie Kinsch, RN

Julie is the Director of Infection Prevention and Control at San Ramon Regional Medical Center. She helped coordinate the hospitalization of one of the first possible COVID-19 patients in the state and continues to collaborate with public health and other agencies to ensure the hospital is always following the latest guidelines. Julie has a level of stamina and resilience that is commendable as she works continuous days, nights, evenings and weekends to ensure patients and staff are safe. She has shown nothing but passion, dedication and care for her patients and colleagues. One administrator at her hospital noted, “Never once has Julie complained and she greets every challenge with a smile and can-do attitude.”   

Crystal Moore

As an Emergency Department Tech at Abrazo Central Campus, a full-time student, and single parent, Crystal still finds time to pitch-in and work extra shifts. She developed video training and trained other ED techs and nurses on proper technique for drawing blood cultures, and has cross-trained in HUC duties handling more than 300 calls per shift. Crystal’s energetic personality keeps staff spirits and morale high leading community drives and morale boosting activities. Examples include organizing hot chocolate bars, specialty meals for night shift and a bowling night for ED staff. Each quarter she helps organize charity donations such as programs for children experiencing grief, a women and children’s shelter, a back-to-school supplies drive and Christmas angels. Caring for patients and families as well, she developed sympathy cards to send to families who lost a loved one in the hospital ED.

Delia Morrissette and Andreana Martinez

Delia, Front Desk Clerk, and Andreana, Insurance Verifier, were nominated together because “that is how they function, as a team.” When team members at their facility were furloughed as a result of the pandemic, these two took on additional roles and trained quickly on new functions without skipping a beat to ensure each patient was treated with compassion and felt completely informed on the facility’s new safety processes. Delia and Andreana conducted the proper insurance verifications, then reached out to patients to work through financial plans for covering their service. Additionally, they coordinated with their local leadership team to implement a robust COVID testing plan.

In one of the hardest healthcare environments, these two were repeatedly recognized by patients, including one receiving nine comments in a single month. As noted by one patient, these two colleagues are “VERY busy and dedicated front office staff, and incredibly professional. Handling COVID precautions very well. They deserve special recognition for all that has been asked of them, and new shoes, as they are constantly on the go!”

Wendy Ochs, RN

Cardiac rehab manager, Wendy Ochs, has always accepted additional responsibilities for improving patient outcomes, so it came as no surprise when the pandemic began that she took on the role of “PPE Czar,” as she was lovingly called by her coworkers. For months, Wendy’s days started before sunrise and lasted well into the evening, rounding and distributing PPE while also coaching, consoling, mentoring, listening and correcting staff – all with a smile under her mask! From helping to onboard the new materials director and materials manager – both of whom joined Shelby in the midst of the pandemic – to spending countless hours helping count, sort and store supplies, as well as searching for supplies from non-traditional suppliers and even leading teams to help create innovative PPE allocation initiatives, Wendy was steadfast. Her dedication and work in PPE management was key to keeping staff safe, especially during times when the supply chain was significantly challenged, and as a result of her efforts, the Shelby team was able to better serve its patients and community.

Wanda Reynolds

Kisha Taylor

A true servant leader, Kisha is not one to stand around and watch. Kisha leaned into new responsibilities and challenges during the pandemic. She was quick to understand the complexities of caring for COVID-19 patients, designing a drive-up ED tent for the hospital to allow patients to stay in their cars and avoid the potential spread of the virus. Kisha trained staff members on the proper ways to don and doff personal protective equipment and didn’t hesitate to step in as a triage nurse herself when needed.

Kisha’s commitment to excellence in care extends beyond the facility’s walls and into the community as she designed an Emergency Services Nurse Graduate Program to facilitate developing new team members onsite, contributing to a “grow our own” culture. A compassionate leader, Kisha also organized a food drive to benefit families without jobs because of COVID-19.