May 2026 Honoree
Westmoreland Regional Hospital OB Team
OB Nursing Team: • Michelle Bauer, Certified Professional Staff Nurse, BSN, RN • Tanya May, Certified Professional Staff Nurse, BSN • Sarah Sutherland, Agency RN • Alesia McFadden, BSN, RN • Nicole Clark, BSN, RN • Lauren Coleman, CRNP, Neonatal ICU • Jillian Bowman, BSN, RN • Kari Grasso, BSN, RN • Ashley Steiner, BSN, RN • Mikayla Barcovtch, RN • Paige Manza, BSN, RN • Kellie DeFloria, BSN, RN • Jennie Halula, Certified Professional Staff Nurse, BSN, RN • Elizabeth Dolan, Certified Professional Staff Nurse, BSN, RN • Susan Patula, BSN, RN • Hannah Ucman, BSN, RN • Cheryl Shean, RN • Anita Bukovac, Certified Professional Staff Nurse, BSN, RN • Amanda Rosenbaum, RN • Tairra Leckemby, Lactation Consultant • Meredith Nimitz, BSN, Lactation Consultant • Wendy Reynolds, MSN, RNC-OB, C-EFM, C-ONQS, NE-BC • Anesthesia Team: • Dr. Daniel Ripepi • Dr. Joe Casario • Joe Dorazio, CRNA • Robin Bell, CRNA • Allison Gatti, CRNA • Michelle Bailey, CRNA • Physicians: • Dr Beth Maxwell • Dr. Kara Ostrosky • Dr. Samara Rubin • Dr. Randi Turkewitz • Dr. Laruen Trimeloni • Dr. Dana Tyrell • Dr. Norman Gebrosky • Dr. Leah Dice • Dr. Christine Slotta • Dr. Lisa Hildenbrand • Operating Room Team: • Renae Kunkle, Surgical Technician • Melinda Hunter, Anesthesia Technician • Kylie Dunnivan, Surgical Technician • Alaina Palamero, Surgical Technician • Nayguan Pack, Surgical Technician • Karri Stadullis, BSN, RN • Justin Philburn, BSN, RN • Jenn Morgan, Central Services Technician • Rachel Soltez, Surgical Technician • Intensive Care Unit Team: • Lindsey McClaren, BSN, RN • Heather Hribal, CNC, BSN, RN • Rachel Kosoglow, RN • Emily Petrazio, BSN, RN • Kathy Radocaj, MSN, RN, CCRN
The DAISY Award is a recognition program to celebrate and recognize nurses who, every day, go above and beyond to not only provide patients and families with excellence in clinical care but also compassion. Our daughter and son-in-law arrived at WH as her labor contractions were increasing in frequency and had reached the point where she was to report to Labor and Delivery. I trusted the dedicated staff that works on the unit to provide excellent care to our daughter, so I stayed at home with my 20-month-old granddaughter while she was sleeping.
I received a call at 2:51 am from my son-in-law, asking me to come to support my daughter. I arrived to find that the epidural was in place and what was routine labor was progressing. Nurses Kelli DeFloria and Kari Grasso along with Sarah Sutherland (agency nurse precepting) were providing care and were monitoring our daughter and her unborn baby.
As the early morning hours passed, our daughter achieved full dilation and was prepared to push. The two nurses (Tanya May and Michelle Bauer) present in the morning were exceptional in the support and encouragement that they provided, while monitoring both the baby and my daughter for any signs of distress. After two hours of pushing, it became clear that our daughter was going to have to have another cesarean section.
Tanya and Michelle prepared her to go to the OR, Dr. Ripepi (anesthesiologist) prepared her for the expectations of the OR, and she went to the OR. Our son-in-law and I went to the OR suite, and we were seated in positions to hold our daughter’s hand and provide emotional support to her as the team prepared to deliver the baby. Dr. Ripepi provided ongoing narrative as to the activities of the OR as the procedure began. Within minutes of the start of the cesarean section for what seemed like was going to be a routine, non-emergent cesarian section, it became quickly clear that the situation was anything but routine, and our daughter was facing a fight for her life.
The team successfully delivered our grandson. The neonatal nurse practitioner and nurses rapidly provided emergent care to him, expertly completing an assessment and care without delay. My son-in-law and I had to leave the OR as the team prepared to intubate our daughter, Tanya stepped in to hold her hand when I had to let go, Allison Gatti, CRNP continued to provide reassuring words to my daughter as I had to leave the room as many team members descended on the OR, ran for supplies, blood and blood products, and several surgical specialists (doctors, nurses, techs, respiratory, and others) worked to save her life; we are forever grateful to everyone for the heroic work and care they provided. The care team trains regularly for an efficient emergency response to hemorrhage during delivery, and the skill and ability of the team reflected that training.
As I stood in the hall after I left the OR suite, Amanda Rosenbaum, RN, came to me and said a prayer, joining in my silent prayer for our daughter and for the team providing her care.
As the time passed through the afternoon, clinical directors Wendy Reynolds and Kathy Radocaj sat with our son-in-law and me, providing comforting words, regular updates, and prayers. Dr. Trimeloni regularly provided updates on the care that was being provided.
The DAISY Award specifically recognizes nurses, and we hope the OB Nursing Team can receive recognition with the OB Team DAISY Award; but the rest of the team members deserve recognition and praise for the role they all played in the miracle that happened that day. Over thirty-one team members worked in the OR suite on our daughter for five hours before she was admitted to the ICU, remaining on a ventilator to ensure protection of her airway in case complications that can occur from receiving massive blood replacement arose. If not for the expert care and treatment provided by Dr. Daniel Ripepi, Dr. Joe Casario and the anesthesia team, the outcome could have been vastly different.
The ICU care team was incredible, provided expert care to our daughter, and thankfully, was able to extubate her late in the night, alleviating some of her discomfort and distress. The OB nursing team brought the baby to the ICU for our daughter to meet her newborn son, and then cared for him in the nursery overnight while she continued to receive much-needed intensive monitoring and care in the ICU.
The following afternoon, our daughter was moved back to the OB unit; staying closely watched on the L & D side of the unit. The OB nursing team continued to be incredible; supporting her through the insertion and care of an NG tube; managing her pain levels; helping her manage her personal care needs; and providing emotional support through this traumatic experience. The OB nursing team, caring for our daughter, also provided exceptional care to our new grandson. Due to the emergent situation of our daughter’s condition, she was not able to experience the ideal welcoming of her new baby to the world; the OB nurses took him to the nursery each night and taught him to eat from a bottle as he struggled with this task; bathed him; and cuddled him; so that he was nurtured and well-cared for until his mother was able to bond with him and begin to care for him.
Nurse Mikayla Barcovtch spent the last two nights he was in the nursery with him, spending a great deal of time sharing her expertise and patience in teaching him to drink from a bottle and our daughter was very grateful for the excellent care she provided to him.
Only two days post-delivery, our son-in-law experienced a medical problem early in the morning and the OB nurses transported him to the Emergency Department in a wheelchair so that he could receive the care he needed. Because of his condition and subsequent admission to the hospital and surgical procedure, our son-in-law was unable to stay with his wife, so the OB nurses continued to care for the baby each night to allow our daughter the much-needed rest to help her to heal. They also helped her throughout each day as she became less connected to tubes and IVs and was able to begin to care for her baby herself. The OB nurses worked with Dr. Slotta to remove the patient-controlled analgia pump and began to administer non-narcotic medications at regularly scheduled time intervals to improve her pain.
The kindness of the entire team, the ability of the entire team, and the prayers and concern shown by all will never be forgotten. While others are not as fortunate to have the outcome of both the mother and the baby being able to go home, we know that we experienced a miracle, and we will be forever grateful.
I received a call at 2:51 am from my son-in-law, asking me to come to support my daughter. I arrived to find that the epidural was in place and what was routine labor was progressing. Nurses Kelli DeFloria and Kari Grasso along with Sarah Sutherland (agency nurse precepting) were providing care and were monitoring our daughter and her unborn baby.
As the early morning hours passed, our daughter achieved full dilation and was prepared to push. The two nurses (Tanya May and Michelle Bauer) present in the morning were exceptional in the support and encouragement that they provided, while monitoring both the baby and my daughter for any signs of distress. After two hours of pushing, it became clear that our daughter was going to have to have another cesarean section.
Tanya and Michelle prepared her to go to the OR, Dr. Ripepi (anesthesiologist) prepared her for the expectations of the OR, and she went to the OR. Our son-in-law and I went to the OR suite, and we were seated in positions to hold our daughter’s hand and provide emotional support to her as the team prepared to deliver the baby. Dr. Ripepi provided ongoing narrative as to the activities of the OR as the procedure began. Within minutes of the start of the cesarean section for what seemed like was going to be a routine, non-emergent cesarian section, it became quickly clear that the situation was anything but routine, and our daughter was facing a fight for her life.
The team successfully delivered our grandson. The neonatal nurse practitioner and nurses rapidly provided emergent care to him, expertly completing an assessment and care without delay. My son-in-law and I had to leave the OR as the team prepared to intubate our daughter, Tanya stepped in to hold her hand when I had to let go, Allison Gatti, CRNP continued to provide reassuring words to my daughter as I had to leave the room as many team members descended on the OR, ran for supplies, blood and blood products, and several surgical specialists (doctors, nurses, techs, respiratory, and others) worked to save her life; we are forever grateful to everyone for the heroic work and care they provided. The care team trains regularly for an efficient emergency response to hemorrhage during delivery, and the skill and ability of the team reflected that training.
As I stood in the hall after I left the OR suite, Amanda Rosenbaum, RN, came to me and said a prayer, joining in my silent prayer for our daughter and for the team providing her care.
As the time passed through the afternoon, clinical directors Wendy Reynolds and Kathy Radocaj sat with our son-in-law and me, providing comforting words, regular updates, and prayers. Dr. Trimeloni regularly provided updates on the care that was being provided.
The DAISY Award specifically recognizes nurses, and we hope the OB Nursing Team can receive recognition with the OB Team DAISY Award; but the rest of the team members deserve recognition and praise for the role they all played in the miracle that happened that day. Over thirty-one team members worked in the OR suite on our daughter for five hours before she was admitted to the ICU, remaining on a ventilator to ensure protection of her airway in case complications that can occur from receiving massive blood replacement arose. If not for the expert care and treatment provided by Dr. Daniel Ripepi, Dr. Joe Casario and the anesthesia team, the outcome could have been vastly different.
The ICU care team was incredible, provided expert care to our daughter, and thankfully, was able to extubate her late in the night, alleviating some of her discomfort and distress. The OB nursing team brought the baby to the ICU for our daughter to meet her newborn son, and then cared for him in the nursery overnight while she continued to receive much-needed intensive monitoring and care in the ICU.
The following afternoon, our daughter was moved back to the OB unit; staying closely watched on the L & D side of the unit. The OB nursing team continued to be incredible; supporting her through the insertion and care of an NG tube; managing her pain levels; helping her manage her personal care needs; and providing emotional support through this traumatic experience. The OB nursing team, caring for our daughter, also provided exceptional care to our new grandson. Due to the emergent situation of our daughter’s condition, she was not able to experience the ideal welcoming of her new baby to the world; the OB nurses took him to the nursery each night and taught him to eat from a bottle as he struggled with this task; bathed him; and cuddled him; so that he was nurtured and well-cared for until his mother was able to bond with him and begin to care for him.
Nurse Mikayla Barcovtch spent the last two nights he was in the nursery with him, spending a great deal of time sharing her expertise and patience in teaching him to drink from a bottle and our daughter was very grateful for the excellent care she provided to him.
Only two days post-delivery, our son-in-law experienced a medical problem early in the morning and the OB nurses transported him to the Emergency Department in a wheelchair so that he could receive the care he needed. Because of his condition and subsequent admission to the hospital and surgical procedure, our son-in-law was unable to stay with his wife, so the OB nurses continued to care for the baby each night to allow our daughter the much-needed rest to help her to heal. They also helped her throughout each day as she became less connected to tubes and IVs and was able to begin to care for her baby herself. The OB nurses worked with Dr. Slotta to remove the patient-controlled analgia pump and began to administer non-narcotic medications at regularly scheduled time intervals to improve her pain.
The kindness of the entire team, the ability of the entire team, and the prayers and concern shown by all will never be forgotten. While others are not as fortunate to have the outcome of both the mother and the baby being able to go home, we know that we experienced a miracle, and we will be forever grateful.
Thank you for your exceptional compassion, advocacy, and dedication to your patients. You truly make a difference.
View More Honorees