Encino-Tarzana Medical Center pays tribute to outstanding workers

NURSES AWARDED-Patty Kagan, RN, a nurse educator at Encino-Tarzana Medical Center, was honored during National Nurses Week and National Hospital and Healthcare Week. Her colleague Kristal McGee, RN, was also recognized. In recognition of last month's National Nurses Week and National Hospital and Healthcare Week, EncinoTarzana Regional Medical Center and the Tenet Healthcare Foundation honored Patty Kagan, RN and Kristal McGee, RN with $500 each to be donated to the charities of their choice.

Kagan, a nurse educator, was selected for the Encino campus. Six weeks after Hurricane Katrina, she went to Mississippi for 10 days as part of an organization called Medical Missions Adventure, working out of a tent to care for patients.

She returned to Louisiana in April and spent a week in New Orleans' East 9th and 7th wards with the International Medical Alliance. She worked in a trailer clinic, seeing 80 to 100 patients a day.

"The most astonishing thing about New Orleans east is that nine months after Katrina, the need for healthcare services is still so severe," Kagan said. She requested that her grant be donated to the International Medical Alliance.

McGee, a certified nursing assistant, was selected for the Tarzana campus. She belongs to a volunteer organization called the National Guard Family Readiness Group, which is dedicated to helping guard members and their families in times of peace and mobilization. These volunteers are usually family members of a local guard unit.

The group's programs provide opportunities for learning and recreation through meetings, newsletters, e-mailing and utilizing family "calling trees" to spread important information.

As members of FRG, McGee and her mother, Brenda Stanely, also a certified nursing assistant at Tarzana Hospital, work with local businesses and organizations to acquire donations of products and services to guard families. Early this year McGee was awarded a Merit of Honor by the National Guard for her involvement in the program.

"Today the Army relies more heavily than ever on the guard and reserves," said McGee. "Working with the FRG is my way of saying 'thank you,' I know where my freedom comes from." McGee requested that her $500 grant be donated to the Military and Veterans Community of Concern.

As part of the celebration of National Nurses Week and National Hospital and Healthcare Week, the Tenet Healthcare Foundationdistributed about$34,000 in donations on behalf of employees at Tenet hospitals across the country.