Ms. Belinda Taylor is a Charge Nurse at our Community Living Center (CLC). Ms. Taylor continues to do amazing work with the Veteran residents at the CLC. Ms. Taylor and the CLC team demonstrated extraordinary bravery when a water pipe burst at the CLC. Ms. Taylor responded quickly when a resident was calling out for help due to the water coming from the ceiling. Upon entering the room and surveying the environment, Ms. Taylor knew she had to act quick, noticing the saturated ceiling tiles above their heads. She made a judgement call to not take the time to attempt to move the resident’s entire bed out of the room, but instead take a faster course of action and place the Veteran in a wheelchair to remove him from the unstable location.

After evacuating the resident from the room, the ceiling collapsed. This was the first of 11 rooms that suffered from water damage. Ms. Taylor collaborated with the nursing staff, VA police, and EMS to evacuate 7 residents from their rooms and move them to safety. Although this was a high-stress situation, Ms. Taylor kept a positive attitude and remained calm, which allowed her to act as a leader and ensure the safety of the Veterans. All the patients were safe and moved to other rooms thanks to the quick actions of staff. Ms. Taylor showed exemplary commitment and advocacy to keep each resident safe during this event. I would like to recognize Ms. Taylor, as well as the entire CLC staff for their hard work, dedication, and commitment to the residents of the CLC and the VA Health Care System in Lexington, KY.