Mount Desert Island Hospital Hospitalist Kate Worcester, PA-C, has been selected as this year’s nominee for the statewide Caregiver of the Year Award presented by the Maine Hospital Association.
The MHA Caregiver of the Year Award is presented annually by the Maine Hospital Association to recognize a caregiver from a member institution who, on a daily basis, demonstrates extraordinary commitment to the delivery of care to patients and their families.
The winner of the 2013 Caregiver of the Year Award will be presented at the MHA Summer Forum on June 19.
Nomination
Her white lab coat is often in stark color contrast to her brightly colored pants that offer the first glimpse into Hospitalist Kate Worcester’s brilliant personality that instantly sets patients at ease.
That comfort and immediate personal connection is the foundation of her welcoming attitude that makes patients want to tell their whole story. With a keen ability to truly hear her patients, razor sharp clinical instincts, comfort with technology and an effervescent collaborative attitude, Kate is often cited by her peers as the one they would want taking care of them if they were a patient here.
Kate began her career in medicine at MDI Hospital in 2006 in family medicine, moved to the Emergency Department, and then helped create the organization’s mid-level hospitalist program, a role that has established her as an indispensible member of the care team. It is here that her passion for “getting to know people” enables her to relate to her patients on a one-to-one basis that leads to more cooperative and collaborative care in any situation. According to MDI Hospital’s longtime hospitalist Mark Brown, MD, Kate’s welcoming, soothing and calming effect on people along with her ability to stay focused under pressure is the ideal combination in any medical situation that may arise with their patients.
If anything is constant in the health care industry it is change. To help facilitate the roll out of computerized physician order entry, Kate tapped her personal interest in technology and volunteered to serve as the clinical lead to ensure the software offered the maximum safety and benefit to all patients. She also serves as an ongoing technical resource for her colleagues and gladly welcomes calls from her fellow caregivers 24-7 to answer questions and assist during the transition from paper charting.
To further her value to patients and the organization, Kate also welcomes opportunities to enhance her skills and certification. She is now responsible for supervising most of the cardiac stress tests that are performed at MDI Hospital which provides greater accessibility for patients and possibly shorter stays in the hospital. Today it is not uncommon for patients to have almost immediate access to testing.
What often differentiates a community hospital from its larger peers is the relationship between providers and patients. Together with her support team, Kate Worcester is the embodiment of the organization’s success that provides personalized, dedicated and compassionate care for all who live and visit our community.
- Kate is a champion for electronic health records and computerized physician order entry. She immediately saw the potential to benefit patients and signed on as the clinical lead to help implement the program and train her colleagues on how to use it. Throughout the transition period Kate has made herself available to her colleagues 24-7 to answer questions. Just to drive the point home that she was available for assistance, Kate had stickers attached to every computer screen in clinical areas offering her pager and mobile numbers for 24-hour CPOE assistance to ensure each provider is making the most of the electronic system for maximum patient safety and quality care.
- Kate is known to relate to her patients on a personal level to minimize their anxiety and offer greater comfort. In one instance cited by her peers, Kate went home to get some of her own clothes to offer to a patient whose clothes had been damaged during emergency care.
- Her unique experience in multiple areas of patient care combined with her strong inner drive enable Kate to serve as an advocate for patients in the Emergency Department to help evaluate the next step in the chain of care. As such, she becomes a facilitator to ensure that our patients are getting to the kind of care that is most appropriate for them, either at MDI Hospital or elsewhere.