Highest Civilian Honors in South Carolina Awarded to Sr. Judith Ann Karam, CSA

Sr. Judith Ann Karam, CSA, president and CEO of Sisters of Charity Health System and former president and CEO of Sisters of Charity Providence Hospitals, received the Order of the Palmetto Award at a reception held in her honor Thursday night. The Order of the Palmetto is South Carolina’s highest civilian honor awarded for extraordinary lifetime achievement and service to the state and nation. Providence Hospitals Chief of Staff Dr. E. McIver Leppard, who nominated Karam for the award, and Senator Joel Lourie presented the Order of the Palmetto award to Karam at the reception, citing several examples of her positive impact on the community. In a letter to Karam, Governor Mark Sanford wrote, “You have an outstanding record as a community, civic and business leader and, in these pursuits, you have helped improve the quality of life for thousands of individuals in our state. Your work has had a positive impact on children, fathers, and families across our state, and your efforts have made South Carolina a better place to work, learn, and play.” In addition to receiving the Order of the Palmetto award, Mayor Bob Coble presented Karam with a key to the city and proclaimed May 29 “Sister Judith Ann Karam Day.”

Apply for the 2008 Ministering Together Award

The Ministering Together organization invites any Catholic-sponsored ministry to submit an entry for the 2008 Ministering Together Arnold Andrews Award for Collaborative Excellence. Today's complex challenges are often too much for any single organization to tackle alone. The award celebrates innovation and excellence among providers of Catholic education, health care and social services, in forming relationships. These collaborative relationships improve quality and/or access to clients, patients and students, particularly those who are marginalized. All entries must be received by July 10. Email Sue Gaughan for an entry form and more information.

Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton Recognized by the Stark County Minority Health Coalition
The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton was recognized by the Stark County Minority Health Coalition on Wednesday, April 3, 2008.  The event was held at the Metropolitan Centre in downtown Canton. The Coalition presented a “Shero” award to the Foundation for its work related to minority health, the uninsured, and the underinsured. The Foundation was also commended for its collaborative efforts to improve health care access.

New Corporate Identity Receives a Number of Advertising Awards



We are pleased to share that the new corporate identity of the Sisters of Charity Health System received first place in the hospitals and health care category of the Apogee Awards. This national award recognizes designs that achieve both strong appeal and positive functionality. The Judges include designers, design critiques as well as business leaders.

In addition, work produced for the Sisters of Charity Health System earned several Addy Awards from the American Advertising Federation – Cleveland. The annual awards recognize the best in advertising created by Northeast Ohio agencies and companies. Twist Creative, the design firm that assisted in the development of the new Sisters of Charity Health System corporate identity, won a Bronze Addy for its work on the new branding materials (logo, stationery, etc.) and holiday card.

Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton's Evaluator Honored

The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton congratulates Dr. Peter Leahy, from the University of Akron who received the Evaluation Recognition Award at the Ohio Program Evaluators' Group (OPEG) Annual Meeting in Columbus on May 16, 2008.  OPEG is a statewide organization of professionals founded in 1980 by program evaluators in mental health organizations across Ohio. OPEG now has over 200 members representing a cross section of agencies, institutions, and fields. Dr. Leahy serves as evaluator for several of the Foundation's initiatives.

This annual award recognizes an individual and/or special body of evaluation work. Awardees must have conducted quality program evaluation; promoted evaluation efforts at the local, regional, or state level; completed or engaged in an exceptional study; and conducted or participated in a number of evaluation studies.
 
A representative of the group reported that OPEG's Board was very enthusiastic about Dr. Leahy and for his body of work but also for his SPARK work, done on behalf of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton. 

Mercy Medical Center Receives Ohio Minority Health Leadership Award

The Ohio Commission on Minority Health recently awarded Mercy Medical Center an Ohio Minority Health Leadership Award during an awards ceremony in Columbus. Mercy was honored for its many minority health outreach programs, including the ANGEL Network, 300 Sisters in Red, the Southeast Canton Community Partnership, immigrant health fairs and screenings, Facing Facts breast health events, on-call interpreters and others. The awards program stated, “Mercy Medical Center of Canton has demonstrated vision, innovation, creativity, and leadership in developing opportunities for effective models in improving the health of racial and ethnic minority communities.” In addition, Karen Feller, Mercy's mission outreach manager, recently received a Shero Award from the Stark County Minority Health Coalition for the medical center's initiatives at Skyline Terrace.