Levin Family Excellence in Caring Award

Thank you! The Levin Family Excellence in Caring Award helps us celebrate some of the unsung heroes at The University of Kansas Health System. Your family's award recognizes staff — the life changers supporting frontline patient care staff — not covered by other recognition programs. These individual and team recipients are nominated by their teammates for demonstrating extraordinary levels of care, professionalism and leadership. In short, they role-model the health system's 5-star culture to everyone they meet.

We are proud to share the stories of the lives you've changed most recently with your family's generous award program. 

Congratulations to Fancy Ellerman, administrative assistant, on receiving The Levin Family Excellence in Caring Award. She was nominated by Brian Buckner, staff development specialist, for her “5-star service” to the health system's Customer Service Training (CST) program.

In his nomination, Buckner says Ellerman has assisted thousands of new team members by providing materials and supplies needed for a successful onboarding process. One of her CST colleagues recently said, “The CST program would be lost without her making sure that all the pieces come together each week.”

Ellerman also supported the CST facilitator team by creating a dedicated SharePoint page that contains items necessary to prepare for and deliver a successful CST session. Buckner says, “Fancy took on this additional responsibility with all her energy, working to modernize the process while using existing tools. When Helix became our training platform, she learned how to manage the training scheduling and completion through that platform.”

Buckner added that Ellerman now utilizes Workday as an additional tool for importing and tracking new staff needing the training.

“Her attention to detail and consistency provides peace of mind that the foundation for a successful class has been laid each week. Every week, Fancy completes these activities in addition to the duties assigned to her as an administrative assistant who supports two very busy nursing directors. The CST facilitator team agrees with our colleague who said, ‘Fancy truly does more than any of us will ever know to keep the Health System Customer Service Training program going.’”

Under one of the 5-star goals for nominating a Levin award winner, Buckner pointed out that, “her efforts allow the CST facilitators to deliver a consistent, high-quality program.”

Congratulations Fancy Ellerman on winning the Levin Family Excellence in Caring Award.

Congratulations to Jacqueline Franklin on winning the Levin Excellence in Caring Award. “Jackie” as she is known, is the unit secretary on Cambridge 10. She was nominated by unit coordinator Madison Cole. Franklin received the award on Friday, Jan. 27.

Cole says Franklin’s role goes far beyond just that of a unit secretary. She is the first person patients meet when they walk on the unit and from the beginning, she makes sure patients feel at home and like family.

“Our unit becomes very busy, especially on weekend shifts, and Jackie will step in and answer call lights and assist in getting water/refreshments for patients when the staff is unavailable. She makes sure every coffee station is clean with fresh coffee every morning and throughout the day; this little touch goes a long way for our patients who are here for months on end,” says Cole.

The staff on CA10 says Franklin helps with call lights, stocks the unit when it’s running low on gowns or gloves, and is truly a bright light in the work family.

CA10 is the Bone Marrow Transplant unit where there are strict guidelines for our patients that not every unit has. Patients are very vulnerable and therefore cannot have anyone under the age of 12 in their rooms--no pets are allowed, flowers or more than 2 visitors at a time.

“Jackie is diligent in ensuring these guidelines are followed for the safety of our patients. She always ensures that there are only 2 visitors and if she sees a family with more than 2, she kindly states our guidelines and makes sure to notify the unit coordinator. She diligently watches for everyone in our airlock system to wash their hands and will let visitors or staff know that they must wash before entering the unit. She never wavers in asking our family members who bring young children the ages of the child and ensures they leave if under 12. These are duties that are imperative to our team running smoothly as the unit,” says Cole.

Because coordinators cannot always be around to monitor the front as diligently as Franklin, there are many instances of her “above and beyond” work ethic. Two incidents were cited by her colleagues.

“Franklin has a certain love for all our patients. Once you walk on this floor you are family, and Jackie ensures you know that. This year on the Chiefs first home game, Jackie brought in two liters of soda, juice, and other mixes to make “Mocktails” for our patients. Once the game started, she grabbed one of our carts, cleaned it appropriately, and had a little party cart to take around to the patients. This small touch made the biggest difference to our patients.”

Cole included another instance in the nomination describing Franklin as the heart of the family.

“We recently had a patient in a room near the nursing station that became very sick. Jackie took interest in this patient’s family, talked with their spouse and children whenever they visited. This patient one day required a rapid response, which can often be overwhelming for the patient’s family members. At this time, Jackie did not hesitate and went straight to the patient’s spouse, held their hand, and gave them a hug letting them know it will be alright and that their loved one was getting the care they needed. Consoling family is not a part of Jackie’s job description; however, it is a part of Jackie’s identity. She is caring, thoughtful, and goes above and beyond. This is not ‘just a job’ for her,” Cole wrote in her nomination.

Cole adds, “Jackie’s passion and work ethic does not go unnoticed, and we greatly appreciate all that she does for our team, patients, and unit.”