Salinas Valley Health Celebrates National Hospital Week

Media Contact: Karina Rusk
831-759-1843

May 14, 2025 - A BBQ and Awards ceremony this afternoon at Salinas Valley Health is the highlight of a weeklong celebration of activities marking National Nurses and Hospital Week. Salinas Valley Health is one of the largest employers in the region with more than 2100 individuals serving the communities health and medical needs.

“We’re honoring some exceptional individuals and departments today, however this gathering is truly a celebration of our collective efforts at Salinas Valley Health,” said Dr. Allen Radner, President/CEO at Salinas Valley Health. “I am amazed every day at the incredible team of professionals we have at this organization and the outstanding care we provide to everyone in our community.”

During this annual celebratory occasion, Salinas Valley Health recognizes people in numerous categories reflecting the organizational STAR values of Support, Teamwork, Accountability and Respect and what are called Exemplars in the Magnet Program recognizing nursing excellence. Salinas Valley Health achieved Magnet Recognition in 2021, a status fewer than 10% of hospitals nationwide currently hold.  Coincidently, this month, Salinas Valley Health also received its 14^th consecutive ‘A’ Patient Safety rating from The Leapfrog Group.

“As a team, our focus is always on our patients and delivering quality care,” said Carla A. Spencer, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Salinas Valley Health Chief Nursing Officer. “However, as you can tell from all of the emotional speeches today, our work is not a job. Serving the community is a passion and we consider our colleagues as family.” 

Several awards were presented during a yellow brick road, there’s no place like Salinas Valley Health themed ceremony titled Achieving Excellence Together. The peer nominated team and individual awards are a highly anticipated secret until the noon time ceremony announcements. 

In addition to Employee of the Year, Nurse of the Year and Physician of the Year, the two big team honors for 2025 went to the Emergency Department, which sees an average of 175 patient visits every day or nearly 64,000 people a year and the Mobile Clinic, which is the longest running service of its kind in Monterey County, logging 30,000 miles, achieving nearly 20,000 patient visits and feeding more than 42,000 through the collaborative with the Food Bank for Monterey County. The Mobile Clinic has been traveling to underserved communities offering free services since its launch in 2020. 

The 2025 National Nurses and Hospital Week honorees include the following:

Employee of the Year: Isabel Paredes, Supply Chain Senior Buyer

Nurse of the Year: Laurel Black, MSN, RN, CCRN, Intensive Care Unit/Critical Care Unit

Physician Excellence in Service and Professionalism: Rakesh Singh, MD

Exemplar Award – Heal: Annie Sebolino, MSN, RN, CMSRN, Observation Care Unit

Exemplar Award – Protect: Shannon Hernandez BSN, RNC-MNN, IBCLC, Mother/Baby Unit

Exemplar Award – Empower: Rita "Kristen" Green-Meadows, BSN, RN, CCRN-CSC, Intensive Care Unit/Critical Care Unit

Exemplar Award – Teach: Pamela Yates, RN, CPN, Pediatrics

STAR Award – Support: Jennifer Mendoza, LCSW, PMH-C, Case Management

STAR Award – Teamwork: Jessica Vega, BS, Cancer Resource Center

STAR Award – Accountability: Margarita "Margie" Reyes-Pantoja, Health Promotion

STAR Award – Respect: A Juana Ponce, Environmental Services

Team Daisy Award: Emergency Department

Team STAR Award: Mobile Clinic

Employee of the Year Nominees

John Zaheer; Kristina Vu; Leticia Suarez; Mary Serrano; Emily Saldana Marquez, BA; Gabriela Enriquez, BA; Miguel Puga Jr.; Patricia Torres; Anita Gonzalez; Brandon Patterson, RPh; Duane Griffin, RPh; Olga Volozhina, RPh; Matthew Song, PharmD, MBA, MSBA; Rosana Buslon, PT, DPT; Julie Koesel; Holly Lombardi, RDMS; Steven Nguyen; Rene Rodriguez;Tracy Da Silva; Valerie Rodriguez; Kelly Flower MSN/MHA, RN, CCRN; Marichu Albarote, CAN; Guillermina "Guille" Becerra; James Lewis, CEP; Rosanelda Robles, CCS, CCS-P; Ana  Mendez-Zamora; Deidre Medrano, LCSW; Iren Nicholas, LVN; Evette Alonzo, CMA; Carol Renn, ODS-C; Julie Martin Deeth; Andres Velasquez Gonzalez, BS; and Sandy Cortez, BA

Nurse of the Year Nominees

Francisco Curiel, BSN, RN; Maria "MJ" Andalio-Angeles, RN; Lisa Garcia, MSN, RN, CNS; Tyler Hays, RN; Ann Buco-Aninzo, MSN, RN, CPHQ; Victoria Beasley, MSN, RN, CEN; Mary Sutliff, BSN, RN; Cyril Sontillano-Davis, BSN, RN; Maureen Felice, BSN, RN, COHN; Rosemarie Fernandez, BSN, RN; Siegrid Evilla, BSN, RN, A-IPC; Aimee Freeman, BSN, RN; April Rose Maniwang, BSN, RN; Christine Lorraine Parreno, BSN, RN; Weronika Paden, BSN, RNC-MNN; Chona Alforque, MSN, RN, CCRN; David Martin, RN; Kimberly Jacobs, BSN, RN, PCCN; Monica Loza-Gonzalez, RN; Claudia Tavares, BSN, RN, PCCN; Gabriela Morales, BSN, RN, PCCN; Katherine Jimenez, BSN, RN, PCCN; Megan Lopez, MSN, RN, VA-BC; Natasha Limosnero, MSN, RN, CMSRN; Christine "Tina" Kerr, RN; Teresa "Terrie" Salah, BSN, RN, OCN; and Ashley Folck, BSN, RN, OCN

Physician Nominees

Alberto Martinez, MD; Alexandra Shawo, MD;  Anastasia Klick, MD;  Bert Tardieu, MD; Bruce Kaufman, DO; Carolina Zanevchic, MD; Deepika Chadive, MD; Eric Fajardo, MD; Erica Locke, MD; Eshan Labroo, MD; Geetha Varma, MD; Herjap Janda, MD; Jaime Gonzalez, MD; Joanna Oppenheim, MD; Joshua Tan, DO; Kelsey Gray, MD; Kenneth Jones, MD; Kimberly Moulton, MD; Kristin Leonard, DO; Madison Hunt, MD; Mahendra Poudel, MD; and Yousef Hindi, MD