The 20th annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards will be celebrated online as a free virtual event at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 9. To register, visit givebutter.com/salutehc.
Those who register have an opportunity to win cash awards. Awards will be given for $500, $500 and $1,000.
The event had been postponed and ultimately was moved online due to public health concerns relative to the COVID-19 pandemic. The St. Louis American Foundation’s Salute events – well-attended gatherings held indoors, typically with much social contact – would not be safe during the pandemic.
At the same time, the pandemic and revived Black Lives Matter movement make the Health Salute timely.
“The COVID-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter uprising have underscored the devastating racial disparities in health care and that our health care workers are critical and indispensable to our community,” said Dr. Denise Hooks-Anderson, medical accuracy editor for The St. Louis American. “So, we believe this celebration of our health care heroes and the work they do is more important than ever.”
Several awardees have been profiled in previous editions of The American: Lifetime Achiever in Health Care Rosetta Keeton, director of Patient Access at the St. Louis Regional Health Commission; Stellar Performer in Health Care Dr. LJ Punch, founder and director of Power4STL, which focuses on bullets, COVID, homelessness and opioids; Health Advocacy Organization of the Year the Deaconess Foundation, which focuses on serving our children and most vulnerable communities; and Dr. Kanika Turner, associate medical director at Family Care Health Center, recipient of the Dr. John M. Anderson Excellence in Mental Health Award, presented in partnership with the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund.
Profiles of the eight Excellence in Health Care Awardees are available in this edition of the paper. They are: Kimberly Carter of SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital; Martin Gitonga of Barnes-Jewish Hospital; Kimberly Hurst of the VA Medical Center in St. Louis; Tesh Jewell of Mercy Clinic East; Helen V. Lane of St. Louis Public Schools; Dr. Leslie McCrary-Etuk of Care STL Health; Ntasiah Shaw of the St. Louis County Department of Public Health; and David Swingley of People’s Community Action Corporation.
Last year, the St. Louis American Foundation fostered $1.25 million in college scholarships to high-potential, local African-American students. Since its inception in 1994, the St. Louis American Foundation and its partners have now invested $7.2 million in the St. Louis community.
Though the free virtual presentation limits the Salute’s potential to raise funds for these scholarships, it also offers opportunities.
“These challenging times have presented an opportunity for us to reimagine the presentation of our foundation’s successful model and present our Salute programming to a broader audience,” said St. Louis American Foundation President Donald M. Suggs.
“Our producing partners, presenters and staff have risen to the challenges of transforming a distinctly social public event into a virtual experience that will empower, inspire and honor those within the field of healthcare. As we face an unprecedented crisis that requires their expertise and service now more than ever, they deserve our celebration and support now more than ever.”
The 20th annual Salute to Excellence in Health Care Awards will be held online 7 p.m. Thursday, July 9. Anyone may watch it at http://www.stlamerican.com/ or https://tinyurl.com/STLAmerican-tube. For an opportunity to win three cash awards of $500, $500 and $1,000, register at givebutter.com/salutehc.
