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For Third Time, DKH Supervisors Recognized with Patriot Award for Support of Military Service Members
For Third Time, DKH Supervisors Recognized with Patriot Award for Support of Military Service Members
May 22, 2015
PHOTO (left to right): Colleen Smith, Clinical Coordinator, Day Kimball Hospital Emergency Department, Edie Cardwell, RN, Day Kimball Hospital Emergency Department, Tom Pandolfi, ESGR Vice Chair, and Patricia McLaughlin, Clinical Coordinator, Day Kimball Hospital Emergency Department.
For the third time, supervisors at Day Kimball Healthcare (DKH) have been awarded the Patriot Award by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) program.
Supervisors must be nominated for the award by an employee who serves in the National Guard and Reserves. Edie Cardwell, nurse at Day Kimball Hospital’s Emergency Department and an Army Reserve Captain, nominated Colleen Smith, RN and Patricia McLaughlin, RN, Clinical Coordinators in the Emergency Department, for their continued support and accommodation of her military service commitments while employed at DKH.
The Patriot Award reflects the efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families and granting leaves of absence if needed. An employee serving in the National Guard or Reserve, or even the spouse of a Guard or Reserve member, may nominate individual supervisors and bosses for support provided directly to the nominating service member and his or her family.
Cardwell has been a Reservist for six years. She made the choice to join the Reserves at the age of 45, and has been serving one weekend each month putting her nursing skills to good use at the 405th Combat Support Hospital in West Hartford.
“I believe in giving back,” Cardwell said. “I was the first one to graduate college in my family, and I just wanted to pay it forward, and extend my skills where they were needed. I’m so thankful to Colleen and Patricia and to Day Kimball for their support of the military and allowing me to serve the community. That’s what it’s all about,” she said.
