2011 Frist Award Winners Announced
April 27, 2012
Fort Walton Beach, FL – Three members of the Fort Walton Beach Medical Center (FWBMC) family were recently awarded the Frist Humanitarian Award, the highest honor an individual can receive at HCA, the Medical Center’s parent company.
This year’s awards were presented to Kristine Sams, FWBMC Auxiliary member; Agnes Dubose, FWBMC Oncology Patient Care Coordinator; and Dr. Michael Hennessey, an OB/GYN physician.
The Frist Humanitarian Awards were created to recognize one employee, one physician and one volunteer at each HCA-affiliated facility who demonstrate extraordinary concern for the welfare and happiness of patients and their community. The Frist Humanitarian Awards are given annually in recognition of the humanitarian spirit and philanthropic work of the late Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Sr., a founder of HCA. National recipients will be honored in the spring at a reception at the company’s Nashville, Tenn., headquarters.
Kristine Sams, volunteer award winner, has dedicated many years of selfless service to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center and our community. As a member of the FWBMC Auxiliary for 23 years, Sams has served in many capacities, including the Gift Shop, member-at-large, telephone and hours committees and her current post delivering mail to patients. This type of service would be impressive by anyone – but especially impressive is the fact that Kristine Sams will be 95 years of age on her birthday in August.
Agnes Dubose is someone described as an inspiration to those who know her passion for Cancer Advocacy and Awareness and a prime example of what the Frist Award is about, always giving back to her community and her patients. Her dedicated spirit is clearly apparent to those who are fortunate to know her. Over the years, her role as Oncology Patient Care Coordinator at FWBMC has expanded in various directions within the community, from creating support groups, speaker seminars and annual cancer survivor celebrations. She is also an active in the Annual American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and serves on the board of the local ACS Unit.
Dr. Michael Hennessey is constantly striving to improve OB/GYN care for patients in our community. He is described by patients and coworkers alike as caring and pleasant to work with and will go over and above in any situation. Dr. Hennessey was one of the key leaders in the effort to begin the Healthy Start prenatal care program, a program providing prenatal care to uninsured women, with the quality of care foremost in mind. When not taking care of patients, he and his family are very active in their church activities at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and they enjoy traveling, boating, fishing, tennis and water skiing.
“HCA is committed to delivering quality patient care. We are extremely proud to recognize the efforts of Kristine, Agnes and Dr. Hennessey on behalf of our patients and our community,” said John Deardorff, FWBMC CEO. “Their exemplary work and compassion sets a high standard for healthcare professionals. We’re proud to have each of them as part of our hospital family. Our patients benefit from the kind of commitment to humanitarian concerns they demonstrate each day.”