On Thursday, June 24, Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio (HCNO) announced Sr. Dorothy Thum, RSM, Senior Vice President of Mission and Values Integration with Mercy, and Samantha Christie, RN, BSN, Cardiac Rehab and Heart Failure Clinic Senior Clinical Coordinator at Mercy St. Charles Hospital as two of the five “Healthcare Heroes” award winners.

This is the second year for the awards.

For the past 28 years, Sister Dorothy has dedicated herself to carrying out the Mercy mission by helping persons in need, including patients, family members, employees and members of the community. She is the author of a bi-monthly spirituality column that appears in the Mercy employee newsletter and has been involved in numerous organizations including The United Way of Greater Toledo as a Community Solutions team member, board member of the Mercy St. Charles and Mercy St. V’s Foundations, and is a CareNet board member.

Sr. Dorothy was an integral part in starting the Mercy St. Charles Mobile Health Van program, which travels to migrant camps, schools, churches and other community events to provide health screenings and education.

Christie graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1986 and has more than 23 years of caring for those in need in northwest Ohio. During her nursing career, she has been named Nurse of the Year for Education in 1998 and was nominated as Choice Nurse of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

She was instrumental in developing the heart failure program at St. Charles, by recognizing the need for specialized care necessary for certain patients who were in cardiac rehab. After careful research of heart failure programs around the country and determining the best care options for patients, the Heart Failure Clinic opened in January 1995 at St. Charles.

According to HCNO website, the Healthcare Heroes Awards were created to recognize the extraordinary contributions healthcare makes to the quality of life in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. A Healthcare Hero could be a physician, nurse, allied health professional, researcher, administrator, educator or caregiver that has gone above and beyond the call of duty.

Healthcare Heroes should demonstrate honesty, integrity, humility, courage and commitment. Over 100 nominations were received and these were narrowed to 47 for the actual determination of the winner.

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