The Courageous Provider Awards have recognized individuals or teams advancing the impact of pediatric palliative care through their work and collaboration with others. Courageous Parents Network is grateful to our funders — the Ilene Beal Foundation and the Margaret Stewart Lindsay Foundation — whose generosity has made it possible to honor and celebrate these leaders, and to the providers, patients and families that nominated them.
2024 Ilene Beal Courageous Provider Award Recipient
Established in late 2018, the Ilene Beal Courageous Provider Award annually honors a pediatric provider who provides exceptional family-centered care in circumstances of serious childhood illness. The award recipient must further demonstrate qualities of compassion, empathy, and the ability to accompany families during difficult phases of the illness journey. Finally, the recipient must demonstrate a willingness to collaborate with other pediatric specialists.
Carol May, RN, MSN, MBA, CHPPN
Director, Division of Palliative Medicine and Supportive Care
UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Carol May’s nominators describe her as “…everyone’s (families, trainees, attending physicians, nurses, social workers and child-life specialists) first call when patients and their families need support.” They also credit her with building and expanding the palliative care team into a recognized department at the hospital. One palliative care physician says Carol is the reason she chose to work at UPMC Children’s Hospital. The selection committee associated her “innate compassion and mission to minimize patient and families’ suffering and maximize their quality of life” with the interests and values of Ilene Beal.
2024 Margaret S. Lindsay Courageous Provider Award Recipient
Established in 2020, the Margaret S. Lindsay Courageous Provider Award recognizes a pediatric palliative care provider who models both tenacity and empathy in journeying with children and their families. The award recipient must demonstrate the ability to engage patients, parents or other caregivers, and/or other pediatric specialists in the essential values of palliative care, especially its holistic, multidisciplinary approach, with compassion and caring.
Zeena Audi-Saba, MD
Clinical Assistant Professor, Dept of Pediatrics
Attending Physician, Pediatric Advanced Care and Team (PACT)
Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital, NYU Langone Health
New York, NY
Dr. Audi-Saba’s nominators stressed the myriad ways that Zeena goes above and beyond to help her patients and their caregivers feel seen, heard and understood, and to connect them with resources in the hospital and community to maximize their potential and well-being. The statement that she “… understands how necessary it is to be an advocate for our patients who do not have voices, especially when parents are having difficulty advocating for the needs of their children” in Zeena Audi-Saba’s nomination papers resonated with the selection committee, as it reflects Margaret S. Lindsay’s own compassion and drive to support those who suffer from disabilities or disadvantage.
***
Prior Recipients
2023
Ilene Beal Courageous Provider Award
Ken Pituch, MD
C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Ann Arbor, MI
Frances McCarthy, MS, RNC-NIC
Columbia University Irving Medical Center/ New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital New York, NY
Margaret Stewart Lindsay Courageous Provider Award
Daniel Le, Therapeutic Musician
Coastal Kids Home Care, Salinas CA
Marjorie Curran, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital for Children, Boston, MA
2022
Ilene Beal Courageous Provider Award
Erin Flanagan, MD
Advocate Children’s Hospital, Park Ridge, IL
Sara Perszyk, RN, BSN, CHPN
Empath Health, Clearwater, FL
Margaret Stewart Lindsay Courageous Provider Award
Anne Anderson, RN, CHPPN
Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA
David Sine, MD
Hinds Hospice, Hoffman Hospice, Kaweah Delta Hospice, CA
2021
Ilene Beal Courageous Provider Award
Hanna Epstein, DNP, CPNP
Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital, Charleston, SC
Carly D. Levy, MD
Nemours/AI duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE
Margaret Stewart Lindsay Courageous Provider Award
Monica Holland, PNP-BC, MSN, CHPPN
Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Portland, OR
2020
Ilene Beal Courageous Provider Award
Kim Juanico, RN, BSN, CHPPN
Holtz Children’s Hospital, Miami, FL
2019
Patricia J. (Pat) O’Malley, MD
MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Boston, MA
***
About the Ilene Beal Charitable Foundation
Ilene Beal achieved great success and had a major impact in the Boston banking world. She was a dedicated and meticulous banker with a big heart, who did everything she could to help, mentor, and encourage other women to follow their dreams and passions. She often said that women can and should do whatever they want professionally. She died in 2015 after a valiant battle against cancer.
The Ilene Beal Charitable Foundation’s goal is to maintain her legacy by supporting those fighting health issues, increasing the ability of hospitals to provide high quality care, mentoring and supporting women and disadvantaged people in underrepresented fields, and lending support to innovative people striving to improve our community.
About the Margaret S. Lindsay Foundation of 1989
Margaret Stewart Lindsay was a Midwesterner who spent most of her adult life in Massachusetts. An educator by profession, she had a big heart and strong attraction to those who might need extra support in order to thrive and who did not give up in the face of challenges, but rather worked to overcome them. Margaret was always ready to offer her support and inspiration in such cases.
The Margaret Stewart Lindsay Foundation of 1989’s goal is to honor her memory by supporting an eclectic array of causes, many of which will reflect her desire to ensure that the most challenging of issues are made more manageable, and that the beneficiaries of grantee organizations find hope and comfort.