06/07/16
Dermot Lahey, NP, Honored with Kenneth Tucker, MD Compassionate Caregiver of the Year Award
Dermot Lahey, a nurse practitioner in the Winchester Emergency Department was honored with the hospital’s compassionate caregiver award recently.
Winchester, MA (June 6, 2016) – Dermot Lahey, a nurse practitioner in Winchester Hospital’s Emergency Department, was honored with the 2016 Kenneth Tucker, MD Compassionate Caregiver of the Year Award.
Carla DeFord saw Lahey’s compassion firsthand when the Dorchester resident cared for DeFord’s elderly mother in her final days.
“My mother was in very bad shape,” DeFord said. “I started to cry, and I said, ‘She is dying, and there is nothing I can do about it.’ Dermot looked at me and said, ‘She is not dying today. Today she is having a good day.’ And it was so wonderful to get any kind of positive feedback—anything to hang my hat on to keep going because it was really difficult. That is another special thing about Dermot: He realized he was taking care of me too, and I really needed him.”
Lahey received the award recently at Winchester Hospital’s annual service awards dinner.
“When people come to the Emergency Department, they really have two issues: one is the medical issue, such as chest pain or a sore throat; and one is why the medical issue is upsetting them,” he said. “In addition to giving them the medical care they need, I try to address those other concerns. It all matters, and it is how you make care truly personal.”
While working in crisis and stressed situations, Lahey is noted for being gifted at introducing warmth and humor to the Emergency Department—for both patients and staff members.
“With his professional dedication and easy sense of humor, Dermot is a uniquely wonderful addition to our department and to our hospital,” said Gregory Weisz, MD, Chair of Emergency Medicine at Winchester Hospital.
The award, which has been presented since in 2012, is named in memory of Dr. Ken Tucker, a most beloved physician and part of the Winchester Hospital medical staff from 1978-2012. Dr. Tucker specialized in internal medicine and cardiology.
About Winchester Hospital
Winchester Hospital, a member of Lahey Health, is the first hospital in Massachusetts to earn Magnet recognition, the American Nurses Association’s highest honor for nursing excellence, three times. As the northwest suburban Boston area’s leading provider of comprehensive health care services, the 229-bed facility provides care in general, bariatric and vascular surgery, orthopedics, pediatrics, cardiology, pulmonary medicine, oncology, gastroenterology, rehabilitation, radiation oncology, pain management, obstetrics/gynecology and a Level IIB Special Care Nursery. Winchester Hospital has clinical affiliations with several nationally recognized hospitals in the region, including Boston Children’s Hospital, Tufts Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. To learn more, visit www.winchesterhospital.org.
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