Southcoast Hospitals Group has awarded four employees at Tobey Hospital with the 2009 President's Award for Excellence.  The award recognizes 12 individuals and one team for outstanding performance, embodying the Southcoast Hospitals Group's culture of care, and for exemplary overall quality of services.  The recipients are nominated by their co-workers.

Wareham resident Elizabeth Price is a member of the Health Information Systems Physician Provider Workload Management software and E-Sign Training Team.  She and her co-workers, who received the award as a team, trained all Southcoast physicians to use software that electronically manages patient records and information.

"Working at Southcoast is like working with my extended family," Price said.  "I have been at Tobey for the past four years and have been so impressed by the warmth of everyone who works there."

Nancy Lo Bue works in Tobey's state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit which was specifically designed so that all patients are visible from the nurses' station. Co-workers say Lo Bue is a kind and caring individual who always goes above and beyond in providing patients and their families with compassionate care.

Michelle Croft is the Bariatric Nurse Coordinator.  She is responsible for coordinating the education aspect of the weight-loss surgery program, which was named a Center of Excellence in December 2007, for nurses and patients.

"There is so much more to what the program does than just surgery," said Croft.   "There's pre-operation education, nutrition and psychiatric counseling, and follow-up visits.  Seeing our patients' health improve both physically and psychologically...is so special to witness."

Croft's career has progressed along with the program. She began as a nurse on the unit's floor 14 years ago, joining two full-time surgeons and one psychologist.  Today the program includes five nutritionists, one psychologist and three social workers, three surgeons, and one nurse practitioner and a physicians assistant in addition to Croft.  The educational and pre- and post-operative components of the program will be moving to the recently approved medical-office building in A.D. Makepeace's Rosebrook Technology Park.

Lucelina Andrade is a certified nurses assistant who has worked at Tobey for six years.  She said that she considers Tobey to be her "second home" and takes great pride in the fact that she can provide medical as well as emotional care through her services.

"I love working with the rest of the team here at Tobey," Andrade said. "It feels great to know that when we all work together we are able to make a positive difference in the lives of our patients and their families."