BCH Employees Receive Public Recognition for Exceptional Work

BCH is blessed to have staff and providers who do exceptional work for our patients day in and day out. They don’t expect recognition for those efforts — they go above-and-beyond because that’s who they are. 

Luckily, such remarkable individuals sometimes do get the public recognition they so richly deserve. We're very proud to acknowledge three members of the BCH family whose inspirational responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have been recognized by two important community organizations.

Jackie Attlesey-Pries: A Woman Who “Lights the Community”

Each year, the Boulder Chamber selects outstanding female business and community leaders for their “Women Who Light the Community” award which honors women “who have made significant innovative contributions to our community by addressing meaningful business, nonprofit, education, arts, and community needs.”

This year, Jackie Attlesey-Pries, our Vice President of Operations and Chief Nursing Officer, will receive this prestigious honor.

Jackie exemplifies all the best characteristics of nursing — thoughtfulness, caring, empathy and the ability to give of herself over and over again. The nomination form for Jackie focused on her major role in helping BCH prepare for the initial onslaught of COVID-19 into the Boulder area. Jackie was a driving force behind developing BCH’s successful plans to increase hospital bed capacity by 50% so we could care for the influx of COVID patients we knew would be coming. Her ability to develop creative solutions to the many operational challenges presented by the pandemic was invaluable to our ability to provide the best possible care while maintaining the safety of our patients and staff.

The greatest leaders always keep calm, stay focused and remain hopeful. That definitely describes Jackie during the most stressful moments of the pandemic.  

Gloria Gonzalez-Engle and Mark Meyer: Health Care Heroes

The monthly business publication BizWest revived its Health Care Heroes program this year to honor individuals and organizations that had been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and went above and beyond to support the health care needs of local communities. Two members of the BCH family — patient care assistant Gloria Gonzalez-Engle and volunteer Mark Meyer — were named Health Care Heroes.

Gloria received the top award in the Support Worker category. The nomination for Gloria noted that she has always gone above and beyond for her patients on 3 North, even before COVID-19 hit. When the pandemic started, 3 North changed practically overnight, becoming the primary unit caring for COVID-19 patients. That caused drastic changes in Gloria’s job, but she did not let it bother her. According to the co-worker who nominated Gloria for the award, “She put a smile on her face and made her very sick patients feel as though they were not alone.”

Mark won the Health Care Heroes award in the Volunteer category. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit BCH, we put out a call for volunteers to screen for COVID-19 at Foothills Hospital’s entrance. Mark was the first to offer help. His duties involved screening each person who entered the hospital for COVID-19 symptoms, taking temperatures and making sure masks were being worn correctly. On some days, Mark would screen up to 500 people. Since the pandemic arrived, Mark has volunteered close to 450 hours of his time.

We want to congratulate Jackie, Gloria and Mark, and recognize the scores of other BCH staff and providers who also do exceptional work for our patients and our community day in and day out.