We all know how hard working and professional Deborah is. She recently led the charge for a successful TJC Stroke Certification survey and is organized, intelligent, a great resource, etc.

Whether Deborah is teaching a staff member how to perform an NIHSS or is talking with a patient or their family, she is the epitome of courtesy, caring and focusing on that person. As she rounds on patients, she takes the time to get to know their story, their family, etc. so that she can ease their fears and answer their questions in a meaningful, caring way. The patients clearly feel they are in the best hands with Deborah. She even has former patients who still contact her to let her know how well they are doing, or to ask a question. In one instance, a patient ultimately passed away last year, but the husband still calls to touch base because Deborah and the staff of RCRMC made a difference in their lives during a very stressful time.

When Deborah wanted to be sure we gave the finest care at RCRMC, she sought out resources and found little collaboration between hospitals. So she started an organization, IESCA, to bring Stroke Coordinators from all over the Inland Empire together. It grew to include hospitals, rehabs and EMS. Today there are 35 active participants. This does impact our patients because someone cared enough about stroke care that they started a thriving organization to facilitate the flow of information and improve the stroke care of patients.