The Peru Gazette

PLATTSBURGH, NY (10/11/2023) – A Nurse who provided compassion and comfort to the grieving family of a North Country icon has been honored as the first recipient of The DAISY Nurse Leader Award at The University of Vermont Health Network-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH). Lee-Ann LaBombard, RN, was presented the award recently during a surprise ceremony with her colleagues at the hospital.

LaBombard was nominated by Ashley Pray, a granddaughter of the late North Country trailblazer and founder of Rulfs Orchard in Peru, Bob Rulfs.

“Lee-Ann has such a helpful, kind, and above all else, a caring demeanor about her,” Richner wrote in her nomination.

She came to know LaBombard after getting the devastating news in June 2022 that her beloved grandfather was admitted to CVPH and was not expected to make it. Richner rushed to the hospital to be with “Grandpa Bob” and met up with a large contingent of family already there.

“Our family is quite large. My grandparents had four children, and then there are 12 grandchildren. So you can imagine we can be quite the crowd when gathered together,” Richner says.

Many of the family members came together at the entrance next to the Emergency Department. But it wasn’t an area that was conducive to privacy. And it wasn’t nearly as close as Richner and the rest of the Rulfs family wanted to be to their legendary loved one. At that time, COVID visitor protocols were in place but the CVPH Welcome Policy offered some flexibility to care teams to accommodate families during the last hours of their loved ones’ lives.

That’s where LaBombard, as a Patient Advocate Manager, came in. Richner contacted LaBombard, explaining the situation and the hope that the family could be closer to Rulfs as he received end-of-life care. After speaking to his doctors and the nursing unit’s leadership team, LaBombard opened up the solarium to the family.

“Lee-Ann went with us up to the floor and made sure that we were settled and as close to my grandfather’s room as we could be,” Richner recalls.

LaBombard, a registered nurse, requested a Comfort Cart for the family, so they had some light refreshments and continued checking in with Richner and other family members to ensure they had what they needed.

“I am and will be forever grateful for Lee-Ann and everything she did for our family. She made sure that I could be close to my grandfather during his final hours with us,” Richner adds. “Lee-Ann was a comfort for us during a very sad time for our family.”

“Everyone who ever met Grandpa Bob at Rulfs has a memory of him, from visiting him at the orchard to kids taking field trips there and picking pumpkins,” she continues. “I think the community would be happy and thankful to know that Lee-Ann made it possible for Grandpa to have his family with him during his final time on earth.”

LaBombard was presented with a certificate commending her as an extraordinary nurse leader during the award presentation. Like all honorees, she also received a DAISY Award pin and a beautiful and meaningful sculpture called “A Healer’s Touch,” hand-carved by artists of the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

CVPH launched the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses in 2018 as a way to recognize and reward licensed nurses for making a meaningful difference in the lives of their patients. This year, the hospital has added the DAISY Awards to recognize nurse leaders and nurse-led teams. Nomination forms and boxes are located at each of the hospital’s main entrances and online at UVMHealth.org/CVPHDaisy. Patients, families, and colleagues may nominate nurses. A committee reviews nominations and awards a deserving nurse each quarter, a nurse leader twice a year and a nurse-led team annually.

The award is part of the DAISY Foundation’s mission to recognize the extraordinary, compassionate nursing care they provide patients and families every day. The DAISY Foundation is a national not-for-profit organization established by family members in memory of J. Patrick Barnes. Patrick died at the age of 33 in late 1999 from complications of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a little-known but not uncommon auto-immune disease (DAISY is an acronym for Diseases Attacking the Immune System). The care Patrick and his family received from nurses while he was ill inspired this unique means of thanking nurses for making a profound difference in the lives of their patients and patient families. More information is available at DAISYfoundation.org.

Editor’s Note. The CVPH new releases initially stated that Ashley Richner nominated Lee-Ann Labombard. They later corrected it to read Ashley Pray.