HCHB Gold Standard Award
HCHB’s Gold Standard Award honors home-based caregivers who utilize HCHB to provide exceptional patient care. Winners are nominated by their agency leaders and carefully selected by the HCHB team for their expertise, enthusiasm and dedication.
Thank you to all the winners for the work you do every day to take care of those in need!
To nominate an exceptional home-based caregiver please email Gold Standard Award.
Learn more about HCHB’s Clinician Satisfaction Initiative.
SEPTEMBER 2023
Melissa Leis
Statewide Clinical Director | St. Croix Hospice
What is the most fulfilling part of your role:
“I absolutely love the opportunity to serve patients and give them the opportunity to give them the gift of hospice. Our patients deserve the best care. Hospice is when we get healthcare right. We allow them the right to make their own choices, to choose their treatment and management of symptoms. I love hearing patient stories and being able to share them with our Interdisciplinary Team.”
What St. Croix Hospice leaders have to say:
“Melissa Leis is a dedicated clinical leader with more than six years of experience in the healthcare industry and oversees 1,170 patients across 14 branches in Wisconsin. She has become an experienced Homecare Homebase user and delivers exceptional patient care, expand end-of-life access in underserved communities and lead high-performing teams.
As a supportive mentor, Melissa empowers her colleagues with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful by regularly facilitating HCHB training sessions. Dedicating her time to training managers and educating them on the various features and back-office functions of HCHB to help them apply new skills on the job. Thanks to her training efforts, Wisconsin has seen improved conversion rates and quality scores along with a census growth of 34% within the past 12 months.
Her commitment to putting patients first and providing care to wherever a patient calls home serves as an inspiration to everyone on her team. Melissa’s ability to motivate and strengthen teams has created a fun and engaging culture where team members feel valued and accepted in the workplace.”
Learn more about St. Croix Hospice.
August 2023
Hannah Grigsby
Occupational Therapist | Vital Caring
What VitalCaring leaders have to say:
“Hannah is an Occupational Therapist who has a master’s degree with a strong desire to continue her education. To say that Hannah is passionate about serving home health patients would be an understatement. For patients with minimal or no support she works to find resources for them. Treatment/care for her patients is based on each patient’s individualized needs as are the “equipment and tools” she brings into the home to ensure each patient receives exercises based on their unique needs.
Hannah’s positive attitude and never-ending smile motivates patients to successfully complete their therapeutic exercise program while showing the patient she genuinely cares about their progress. Her assessments are thorough as is her documentation. She is able to translate ‘medial jargon’ into plain English regardless of a patient’s educational level. Hannah is also a patient advocate as evidenced by her willingness to help fight denials so that patients can receive the in-home care they deserve. Hannah is able to perform Start of Care visits, in addition to Evaluations and Routine visits.
In addition, Hannah recognizes the importance of being a “team player” and she is always willing to help nurses and therapists with their questions. She coordinates her care with other clinicians servicing the patient. She mastered Homecare Homebase quickly and consistently meets VitalCaring expectations regarding productivity, in-home documentation, and additional documentation.
Hannah puts the “caring” in VitalCaring and we are so blessed to have her on our team!”
Learn more about VitalCaring.
July 2023
Keith Glass
RN Weekend Oncall | Hospice of North Alabama
What is the most fulfilling part of your role?
“Getting to meet our patients and their families while helping manage patient symptoms at their weakest and often sickest point of their life is both a privilege and a honor. My prayer is that our families see Christ through me and my care helps bring comfort and peace.”
What Hospice of North Alabama leaders have to say:
“Keith has an excellent understanding of PointCare and he utilizes the EMR system within the home to support his patient care instead of an afterthought following patient care. Keith completes his documentation in real time and has proven himself to be an excellent mentor for nurses who struggle with chart completion.”
Learn more about Hospice of North Alabama.
June 2023
Franz Guevara
Registered Nurse | Redeemer Home Health
What Redeemer Home Health leaders have to say:
“Franz is a dependable, outstanding employee who has strong critical thinking skills, attention to detail and a passion for empowering his patients. He offers effective communication skills, promotes collaboration among community partners and physicians, and effectively mitigates potential health risks through timely problem solving before his patients experience a decline in their advanced chronic illnesses.
Franz is a mentor to new nurses and students explaining evidence based best practice and quality care. The patients express exemplary knowledge in falls prevention, medication management, disease, safety and lifestyle modification after his instruction. Results are reductions in re-hospitalizations. Patients have retained their independence and become self-sufficient under his compassionate care.”
Learn more about Redeemer Home Health.
May 2023
Tina Thomas
Medical Records Specialist | VitalCaring
What VitalCaring leaders have to say:
“Tina is extremely diligent in managing her workflow and has played an important role in helping the branch stay below the unbilled claims goal. She steps up any time she’s asked to help train at other branches and frequently offers help to surrounding branches when she’s caught up with her own work. Her work ethic is a clear indication of her loyalty and dedication to VitalCaring home health and their future success.”
Learn more about VitalCaring.
April 2023
Stephanie Bates
Home Health Nurse | Residential Home Health
What Residential Home Health leaders have to say:
“Stephanie has been a home health nurse for Residential Home Health since November of 2020. She has shown herself to be a strong patient advocate, and she is self-motivated with demonstrated ability to work independently. These qualities have resulted in high patient satisfaction scores, low patient hospitalization rates, and positive clinical outcomes. Although she takes a patient-centered approach in the field, she also demonstrates good documentation efficiency, completing a high percentage of it in the home while with the patient. We feel she exemplifies gold standard care in home health.”
Learn more about Residential Home Health.
March 2023
AnnEve Yanka
Clinical Resource Nurse | Hospice of the Valley
What Hospice of the Valley leaders have to say:
“As the Clinical Resource Nurse I have the best of both worlds. I get to work with patients and support fellow staff with resources and education. My desire to serve our patients also translates to serving our staff in the field, and that makes me happy!”
Learn more about Hospice of the Valley.
