A list of recent awards and recognitions earned by the work I've I've led.

1. AWARDS & HONORS
2009-2012
PR News’ Non-Profit PR Award
PR News’ Nonprofit Awards Program honors the most talented communicators and best
communications practices in the nonprofit sector. In 2011, the competition was fierce and
Western Connecticut Health Network earned the top honor in the “Employee/Internal
Communications” category – for “Affiliation Communications Campaign: The First 100
Days of a Merger.” The award recognized our internal communications supporting the
change management associated with the merger of Danbury and New Milford Hospitals
and the formation of a single healthcare network.
The Nonprofit PR Awards are presented by the leading industry publication PR News, and
are judged by a blue-chip panel of communications experts.
Clarion Award – Association of Women in Communications
Affiliation Communications Campaign: The First 100 Days of a Merger” (described
above) earned a 2011 Clarion Award in the category of Employee Relations Campaign.
Clarion Awards is an established recognition program (37 years) that honors excellence in
more than 100 categories across all communications disciplines, symbolize excellence in
clear, concise, communications. Winners represent media companies large and small,
leading corporations, small businesses, and nonprofit associations and institutions. Entries
are evaluated for substance, style, originality and achievement of objective.
Danbury Hospital had earned a Clarion in 2009 as well for its “Workplace of Choice”
Communications Campaign.
Magnum Opus Award
Western Connecticut Health Network’s flagship employee publication, Vital Signs
Quarterly earned Special Recognition in the Grand Award for Employee Newsletter
category of the 2011 Magnum Opus Awards. This awards program, sponsored by
ContentWise and managed in conjunction with the Missouri School of Journalism,
celebrates the best in custom publication and sets the bar for quality. Judges are
journalism professors and leading publishing professionals. In determining winners, they
consider informational and entertainment value, quality of writing and display copy, and
creative use of photography and typography. Grand Awards take into consideration all
aspects of the publication or product—editorial, design, and strategy.
Hermes Creative Award from the Association of Marketing and Communication
Professionals
The Hermes Creative Awards program is an international competition that recognizes
outstanding communication work in concept development, writing and design of traditional
and emerging media. All work is evaluated on its own quality, creativity and
resourcefulness. Judges, who are experienced communications and business
professionals, base their decisions on perceptions of creative excellence. In a typical year,
thousands of entries are judged.
In 2011, Danbury Hospital earned a Gold Hermes Award in the Advertising category for an
email-blast campaign to promote its physician survey.
In 2010, the hospital’s “Best Place to Breathe” Communications Campaign earned a
prestigious Platinum Hermes Creative Award, honoring the organization among the best in
communication campaign development and execution.
Our organization’s employee newsletter, Vital Signs Quarterly, also earned a Gold Hermes
Creative Award.
APEX Awards for Publication Excellence
The APEX Awards competition is sponsored by the editors of “Writing that Works: The
Business Communications Report” and publishers of Communications Concepts, Inc. The
awards are based on excellence in editorial content, graphic design and overall
communication effectiveness. Entries are judged in comparison with those from
organizations of a similar type and staff size.
In 2012, WCHN earned the Apex Award for Publication Excellence for the organization’s
employee newsletter, Vital Signs, in the category of “Most Improved Newsletter.”
The hospital’s “Best Place to Breathe” Communications Campaign was awarded a
2010 APEX Award in the category of Health & Medical Campaigns & Programs, and the
Vital Signs employee newsletter earned an APEX in the Employee Publications category.

2. AWARDS & HONORS
2009-2012
E2E Employee Communications Awards
The E2E Communication Awards is the only awards program dedicated solely to
employee communication. Entries are judged by the very best people across all the
employee communication disciplines.
Our “Best Place to Breathe” Communications Campaign earned the award for Best
Change Communication Campaign in 2010. The Vital Signs employee newsletter earned
top prize for Best Employee Newsletter - beating out Bank of America for that honor. The
exclusive list of winners (one per category) was impressive, and put Danbury Hospital in
the company of corporate giants including PepsiCo, Cisco Systems, Wal-Mart, and State
Farm Insurance. Winners were announced and publicly celebrated at the Innovating
Employee Engagement conference in Chicago in the spring.
Ragan Employee Communications Awards
A letter to employees written for the signature of President and CEO John M. Murphy, MD,
discussing the changing face of health care,” earned an Honorable Mention in Ragan’s 2011
Employee Communications Awards. Ragan Communications is a recognized authority on
best practices in internal communication.
Dorland Health People Awards
The Dorland Health People Awards recognize outstanding contributions to healthcare from a
wide range of practice settings. The People Awards honored 32 winners across a diverse
group of categories focused on patient-facing disciplines like medical directors, nurses, case
managers, social workers, psychologists and translators. In 2010, Human Resources
submitted an ARPN from our staff who has led smoking cessation programs at the Hospital
and on behalf of the hospital throughout the western Connecticut region. Our entrant was
honored with the grand award in the Nurse Practitioner category.
The award winners and all finalists were featured in the cover story of the
October/November issue of Case In Point, which contains descriptions of their leading
accomplishments. The winners also are listed on the People Awards website.
Gold Quill Award for Communication Excellence from the International
Association for Business Communicators
The multi-platform communication campaign promoting Danbury Hospital’s Workplace of
Choice Survey earned this prestigious award, which has honored excellence in business
communication for 36 years. Winners represent the best in organizational communication
and their work plans serve as best practices for professional communicators.
This award is often referred to as “the Oscar” of the communications industry. This year’s
competition received nearly 1,000 entries from 26 countries, with 122 were selected.
American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration
Communication Award
Danbury Hospital’s “How We Measure Nursing Excellence” recruitment brochure earned this
award, which recognizes an ASHHRA member who has demonstrated outstanding
competency in written and/or electronic communication. Submissions are judged on
originality and effectiveness of the communication; innovative approach to communication;
creativity and audience appeal; best communication practice; clarity of purpose, and
universal interest.