Valerie Church Recognized as CHN's January 2023 Service Excellence Superstar

Curry Health Network (CHN) is pleased to announce that Valerie Church, RN and House Supervisor was recognized as its Service Excellence Superstar for the month of January 2023.

Valerie was nominated by Amber Sutter, RN - the Superstar for December 2022 - for her teamwork, excellence, and integrity when she took action to resolve a serious issue when a patient with an emergent surgical need had been waiting for 24 hours in the emergency department to be transferred to another hospital due to the lack of available beds throughout the state.

When CHN's primary general surgeon was not available, Valerie reached out to a physician who works in the emergency department but that also has surgical privileges to see if he would be willing to take the patient. She worked diligently with the physician and surgical team to have the patient cared for locally and near family, and the needed surgery was done at Curry General Hospital.

"The teamwork and excellence of Valerie advocating for the patient to have services done here was the best for the patient. The patient and her husband were so relieved and happy with the outcome to stay local," Amber wrote in her nomination.

Before becoming a registered nurse (RN), Valerie was a paramedic/firefighter in Florida for more than eight years. She received her first RN license in that state in 2016 and joined CHN in May 2017 working in the emergency department and the former urgent care clinic. In 2019, she became a nursing house supervisor.

Curry Health Network congratulates Valerie for steadfastly, and with innovation, advocating for the best outcome of the patient.

You can read about all of CHN's Service Excellence Superstars and nominate a staff member for this honor here.

Photo: Valerie Church, RN and Service Excellence Superstar (left), and Ginny Williams, CHN Chief Executive Officer (right)