Nominations Open for 2015 Schwartz Center National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year Award

The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare, the only national nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the human connection at the heart of healthcare, is accepting nominations for its prestigious Schwartz Center National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year (NCCY) Award. The award, given annually since 1999, recognizes healthcare providers who demonstrate extraordinary devotion and compassion in caring for patients and families.

“With the growing demands placed on caregivers today, an increasing number are suffering from burnout and some are even leaving their chosen profession,” said Schwartz Center Executive Director Julie Rosen. “The NCCY Award helps draw attention to the importance of compassion and the human connection in healthcare by honoring caregivers and helping them feel supported and valued for the amazing work they do every day.”

The Schwartz Center is accepting nominations for the 2015 NCCY Award until May 1, 2015. Individual healthcare providers and teams that work in any U.S. healthcare setting and have direct patient contact are eligible. Nominees may include physicians, nurses, therapists, social workers, psychologists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, certified nursing assistants, home health aides, and chaplains – as well as interdisciplinary teams of caregivers. Nominations may be submitted by patients, family members or colleagues who work with the nominee.

The NCCY Award recipient and five finalists will be chosen by a national review committee and honored before an audience of 2,000 patients, caregivers, and healthcare executives at the 20th Annual Kenneth B. Schwartz Compassionate Healthcare Dinner on Nov. 18 in Boston. The recipient will be presented with a $5,000 award and the five finalists will receive $1,000 each.

“Receiving this award was humbling,” said 2014 award recipient Thea James, MD, an emergency medicine physician at Boston Medical Center. “I felt it was an honor shared with patients who are my teachers, and with colleagues whose partnership makes our work possible. It affirmed that rewarding feeling you have when you see hope and relief in a patient’s eyes—it’s priceless.”

More information about the award and nomination process is available at theschwartzcenter.org/award.