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Becoming a hero requires both more and less than you might expect.
To be a hero, it’s not necessary to show bravery in combat. It doesn’t require a leap from a plane, or a dive into a freezing river, or a sprint into a burning building. It doesn’t take that much. Not quite.
But it takes a lot. It requires an enormous expenditure of time and dedicated effort. It takes study, focus, compassion, and commitment to achieving results. In the broad realm of health care, it demands empathy and imagination—the ability to put oneself in the place of the afflicted, plus determination to deliver improvement.
Every day, a Minnesota health care professional saves a life, eases a patient’s pain, advances knowledge of a debilitating disease, passes a milestone in the development of a treatment or life-enhancing device, and earns the admiration of those close enough and astute enough to recognize the significance of their accomplishments.
Every day, the lives of strangers are made better by those professionals, and the definition of what it means to be a hero is expanded.
This month, Twin Cities Business and Medica join for the third time to honor a small group of Minnesota’s outstanding contributors to the quality of health care in our state. The honorees were screened from dozens of nominees, divided into professional categories, and selected by a panel of thoughtful and informed judges.
When you have finished reading this publication, you will have seen what the honorees have done and continue to do. You will be impressed by every one of the judges’ choices. You will see why they deserve to be called heroes.
—Jay Novak, publisher and editor, Twin Cities Business
Innovation in Health Care
Keith Lurie, MD
Physician
John L. Hick, MD
Nurse
James Tczap, RN
Health Care Staff
Rae Blaylark
Administrative Excellence
Margaret Perryman, MBA
Volunteer
John Mastel
Community Outreach
The Henrietta Schmoll School of HealthHero Videos
Watch profile videos about the work of this year's honorees.
