SVHC Announces DAISY Award Winner

BENNINGTON, VT—July 20, 2022—Gretchen Martinez, RN, a nurse in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), was the June recipient of the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses at Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC).

“Gretchen offers patients and their families heartfelt compassion and genuine concern,” said Pamela Duchene, PhD, APRN, SVHC’s chief nursing officer and vice president for Patient Care Services. “She spends all of the time they need, and that makes an incredible difference.”

Martinez’s nominator, the daughter of a patient, who lives 1,500 miles away, appreciated how Martinez treated the patient as if he was her own dad and cared for her as well.

“I cannot even begin to put into words the way this nurse impacted both me and my dad during his stay,” she wrote. “She went so above and beyond to be there for me through this time. She stayed on the phone with me while I cried my eyes out.”

It was remarkable, she shared, that the patient, who has dementia, remembered Martinez’s name and mentioned his appreciation for the care he received in calls to his daughter.

“The DAISY Award is a tremendous honor,” said Martinez. “To be included in the same category as the previous recipients of this award is a privilege, as they all epitomize everything special about the field of nursing and especially the care we give here at SVHC.”

Martinez continued, “Families are incredibly important parts of the care team. Our ability to be there for them, to hear them, and support them only benefits  patients outcomes and chances for success.”

Martinez received a bachelor’s degree at Indiana State University and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Southern Vermont College. She started at SVMC as an LNA at 2006 and as an RN since 2008. She has worked in Cardiology, Infection Prevention, and as assistant to the director of the ICU. Currently, she works in the ICU and the Pain Clinic.

The DAISY Award is part of a national merit-based recognition program established by the DAISY Foundation. It celebrates nurses’ education, training, and skill. Nominations can be submitted by patients, families, physicians, and colleagues. All nominations are blinded, so that they are anonymous before being reviewed by a selection committee. One nurse is then chosen as the DAISY Award winner. DAISY Awards are presented on a regular basis, usually bi-monthly or quarterly.

About SVHC:
Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is a comprehensive, preeminent, healthcare system providing exceptional, convenient, and affordable care to the communities of Bennington and Windham Counties of Vermont, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties of New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. SVHC includes Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, and the SVHC Foundation. SVMC includes 25 primary and specialty care practices.

Southwestern Vermont Health Care is among the most lauded small rural health systems in the nation. It is the recipient of the American Hospital Association’s 2020 Rural Hospital Leadership Award. In addition, SVMC ranked fourth nationwide for the value of care it provides by the Lown Institute Hospital Index in 2020 and is a five-time recipient of the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence. The health system is fortunate to have the support of platinum-level corporate sponsor Mack, a leading supplier of contract manufacturing services and injection molded plastic parts based in Arlington, VT.

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center provides exceptional care without discriminating on the basis of an individual’s age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression. Language assistance services, free of charge, are available at 1-800-367-9559.