Melissa Bowles
(photos by Joe Howell)
Three receive Credo Awards
Charlotte Frey
Gary Piper
Inaugural recipients of the Vanderbilt Medical Center Credo Award were announced to applause earlier this week at a VMC leadership assembly at Langford Auditorium.
Awards went to:
• Melissa Bowles, social worker II, Pediatrics;
• Charlotte Frey, assistant director, Department of Finance; and
• Gary Piper, senior LAN manager, Division of Nephrology.
The three recipients each received $500 and a crystal bowl.
“The Credo Award recognizes staff and faculty who stick out in all the best ways, upholding our institution's most vital precepts and setting an example for the rest of us to follow,” said Harry Jacobson, M.D., vice chancellor for Health Affairs. “Knowing that true dedication is common among our staff and faculty, I'm especially honored to help salute Melissa, Charlotte and Gary as team members who've distinguished themselves for their dedication to Vanderbilt and to those whom we serve.”
Piper was nominated in part for grit. As Piper's nomination stated, “With arms bandaged and waiting for a skin graft (due to a motorcycle accident), Gary had a laptop brought to him in the hospital so that he could make sure that the incoming fellows in Nephrology were all entered in the system and would have no problems on their first day at Vanderbilt. Thinking of Vanderbilt at a time when he was in extreme pain, and worried about his wife, who also had multiple injuries, makes him an over-the-top employee.”
Bowles was nominated for her handling of a complex child abuse case. She was on call and came in at 1 a.m. to begin work on the case. As the nomination stated, Bowles “went the extra mile,” and was “patient, focused and a good patient advocate” throughout what proved an especially difficult case.
Frey was nominated for her general dedication to her job, including working long hours and participating in various network application work teams. As Frey's nomination put it, “she is committed to making processes better for her colleagues.”
The Credo Committee will select up to three recipients of the Credo Award each quarter. Nomination forms and a list of award criteria are available on the elevate Web site (www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/elevate), from the elevate brochure stand in the Vanderbilt University Hospital service elevator lobby, and from the Vanderbilt Valet desk in Medical Center North. Repeat nominations are welcomed.