JERRI ROSENFELD, LMSW, OF THE KEN HAMILTON CAREGIVER CENTER
AT NORTHERN WESTCHESTER HOSPITAL, RECEIVES CLAYTON SCANLAN BYRNE PLANETREE AWARD FOR COMPASSIONATE CARE

June 30, 2009 [Mt. Kisco, NY] - Armonk resident Jerri Rosenfeld, LMSW, of  The Ken Hamilton Caregiver Center at Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH), received the Clayton Scanlan Byrne Planetree Award at a recent ceremony held at NWH.  The award is given to the NWH compassionate caregiver who best cultivates the healing of mind, body and spirit.

This award was established in the memory of Ms. Byrne by her family who wanted to acknowledge the compassionate care she had been given at NWH.  They created an endowment to honor NWH staff members who exemplify the Planetree spirit. The Planetree organization (www.planetree.org), created by a patient in 1978 after she endured a traumatic healthcare experience, has been at the forefront of the effort to create patient-centered hospitals.

Each Clayton Scanlan Byrne nominee displays exceptional human interactions between patients and fellow colleagues; demonstrates compassion, empathy and simple human kindness, decreasing the amount of stress felt by patients and/or colleagues; appreciates and celebrates the individuality of patients and fellow colleagues and embraces new ways to enhance the level of service, and helps to create a culture and environment of teamwork and respect.

"We are delighted and honored to bestow this award upon Jerri Rosenfeld, who epitomizes the spirit of compassion, empathy and human kindness in everything she does at the Caregiver Center," said Joel Seligman, President and CEO of NWH.  "Jerri bonds with the families she cares for, helping them with funeral arrangements and explaining death and sickness to children, assisting caregivers plan birthday or holiday celebrations for their sick loved one, and organizing workshops for families to better understand advance directives.  These are just a few examples of how Jerri exemplifies the spirit of Planetree."
 
Past winners of the Clayton Scanlan Byrne Planetree Award are Alicia D'Arcy, RN, ICU, 2008; Claudio Villarroel, Rehabilitation Services, 2007; Louise Palma, RN, OCN, Cancer Treatment and Wellness Center, 2006; and Jody Proetta, LPN, Medical/Surgical Services, 2005.

The Ken Hamilton Caregiver Center, a suite designed as an oasis for family caregivers who need some personal time from the bedside of a chronically ill loved one at NWH, has helped 2,800 families to date.   Hamilton's widow, Marian, was instrumental in the opening of the Caregiver Center.  Although her husband died in 2004 of a rare lung cancer at another hospital, she chose to open the center at NWH because she admires its Planetree model of patient-focused, family-centered care. She raised $900,000 for construction, furnishings and an endowment through community donations and a matching grant.

NWH is only one of eight designated Planetree facilities.  In the past five years, Planetree has seen its membership grow from 30 hospitals to 125 affiliates. The staff of Planetree has grown from three just seven years ago to 19, with an extended network of experts in specific areas.  Planetree's Patient-Centered Hospital Designation Program name is derived from the legend of Hippocrates sitting under a Planetree teaching his students that medicine is a vocation of healing, centered in the person who is ill.

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