Healthcare providers work day in and day out with one goal: care for others. And while awards aren’t an expectation, it is nice to know your efforts are noticed.

On Tuesday, Oct. 4, members of the Indiana Department of Health visited IU Health Bedford Hospital to present them with the State Office of Rural Health Critical Access Hospital Community Impact Award for 2022.

“This team has shown so much heart and compassion over the past few years,” says IU Health Bedford Hospital Chief Operating Officer Larry Bailey. “Their efforts to continually provide excellent care while reaching for ways to help as many people in this community as possible is admirable and has saved many lives through the pandemic.”

“Truly, this is one of the busiest critical access hospitals around,” says Cindy Herrington DNP, FNP, RN, NE-BC, OCN, IU Health South Central Region Chief Nursing Officer. “Seeing our team take care of this community makes me so proud.”

The award is well-deserved for this rural team whose valiant efforts to care for patients during the pandemic saved many lives. And it all started with something no care team likes to see: a surge.

During one of the COVID-19 surges, the Bedford team couldn’t transfer patients to higher levels of care in Indiana or the surrounding states because there weren’t any beds available. So, they decided they would need to bring care to the patients.

The Bedford group worked with IU Health Bloomington team members in real-time to learn how to prone patients who would typically travel to another facility for specialized care. And it was a group effort with ICU team members, respiratory, pharmacy, and more, giving a hand to ensure their Bedford colleagues had the knowledge and skills they needed to care for their patients during this difficult time.

Amanda Alcorn, RN, BSN, IU Health Bedford Hospital Quality Improvement Manager, nominated the team for the award due to the fantastic efforts she saw.

“We were able to keep those patients here that we normally would have sent to other facilities for a higher acuity of care,” says Alcorn. “I’m just so proud to be part of this team.”

“We are so honored to receive this award and so proud of IU Health Bedford Hospital as one of the busiest, highest acuity and comprehensive critical access hospitals in the state and nation,” says Alan Biggs, FACHE, MBA, IU Health South Central Region Chief Operating Officer. “This team is an excellent example of the care that is possible and needed in our smaller and more rural communities.”