AWARDS — Jim Mirasola, left, medical group enterprise president of Trinity Health System, and Dwayne Richardson, interim market president, were among those who spoke at Wednesday’s Patient Experience Awards recognition breakfast. -- Ross Gallabrese

STEUBENVILLE — Dwayne Richardson was all about offering praise Wednesday morning.

“This is a phenomenal feat in our patient experience scores. It’s not something that’s easy to do and it’s not something that’s necessary, to be nice all of the time,” he said.

Richardson, the interim market president of Trinity Health System, was speaking to the more than 100 Trinity doctors and staff members who attended a breakfast ceremony at Scaffidi’s Restaurant and Tavern in honor of the hospital’s recipients of the Patient Experience Awards.

The awards are part of the Physician Enterprise Vision Awards presented by Trinity’s parent, CommonSpirit Health.

“Most of our winners are for patient experience,” explained Annie Kirkpatrick, program manager for quality and patient safety. “They have earned scores where the patients have responded to the providers saying they are excellent at what they do.”

Among those recognized was Dr. Charn Nandra, who was a recipient of the Inspiration Award from CommonSpirit. He will be one of three Trinity physicians who will represent the hospital and CommonSpirit’s southern region at a presentation next week in Chicago.

A cardiologist who helped to implement echocardiograms in the community, Nandra also is heavily involved with the Ohio Valley Health Center, serving as its medical director since 2014. He’s been responsible for millions of dollars of free medical care for the region’s uninsured and underinsured residents, Ann Quillen, the center’s executive director, wrote of Nandra.

Among his other honors, Nandra was named the 2020 Physician of the Year by the Charitable Health Network of Ohio.

Recipients of the Patient Experience Awards are in elite company as well, Kirkpatrick said.

“We are celebrating their ability to care for the patients in our area, and make sure they have quality care,” Kirkpatrick explained. “They are being recognized for how great of a job they have done. This is across the country — from California to Ohio. These clinics were recognized as among the highest performers in patient experience.”

Recognized were the offices and staff of Dr. Amjad Alkaed; Dr. Rafael Schmulevich; Dr. Brian Burke; Dr. Joseph Lewis; Drs. Nicholas Mastros and Paul DiBiase; Dr. Derek Powell; and MGE Bellaire.

According to Jim Mirasola, medical group enterprise president of Trinity, winners of the awards come from five categories: Academic research, inspiration, innovation, patient experience and quality.

“Our performance in these categories is unbelievably consistent,” he explained.

“We will be sending people to Chicago to represent not just the Ohio market, but the entire southern region in patient experience and inspiration.” he added.

Maintaining that level of patient care can be challenging, but it is rewarding, Richardson explained.

“Sometimes, we are stressed at work — people will challenge you,” he said. “A lot of times people will ask, ‘Did you have a hard day at work?’ and you’ll say, ‘My whole day was messed up.’ I don’t let anyone mess up my day.

“I don’t have a bad day, ever,” he continued. “I might have a bad moment, but I don’t have a bad day. So, if you have that kind of emphasis on life, that no one will allow someone else to mess up their day, you’ll be an amazing person and move forward.”