The March of Dimes recongized mutiple Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing alumni at the “Heroes in Action” event on Oct. 7, 2022. Formerly called the Nurse of the Year Awards, the annual celebration honors health care professionals by recognizing Heroes in Action throughout the community.
Finalists were nominated by colleagues, supervisors and instructors for the critical role they play in maternal and child health care. March of Dimes awarded Heroes in Action awards across 16 diverse categories.
Connie Nguyen-Truong ’00 from Washington State University College of Nursing received top honors and was named the 2022 Distinguished Nurse of the Year. This award recognizes nurses whose contributions and accomplishments have had an extraordinary influence within the nursing profession in Oregon. Winners for this highest-level award are selected from the pool of nominees. Nguyen-Truong was a nominee in the Maternal Child Health Equity Leadership category.
Three other alumni were recognized as winners in specific award categories:
- Patrick Evangelista ’21 from Kaiser Permanente Northwest is the Outpatient/Ambulatory winner.
- Violet (Hall) Larry ’87 from Multnomah County’s Health Birth Initiative is the Maternal Child Health Equity Leadership winner.
- Huong Tran ’14 from Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital is the Critical Care winner.
In addition, eight other Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing alumni were named among the 75 finalists. The March of Dimes reported receiving hundreds of nominations for the 2022 awards.
Congratulations to Linfield’s alumni finalists:
- Molly Blaser ’97 from Oregon Health and Sciences University — Nursing Leadership finalist.
- Tresa Clemmer ’11 from Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center — Nursing Leadership finalist.
- Lauren LeClair ’16 from Legacy Emanuel Medical Center — Pediatrics finalist.
- Deborah McGrath ’08 from Providence Portland Medical Center — Emergency finalist.
- Daniella Mendez ’12 from Providence Portland Medical Center — Nursing Leadership finalist.
- Jamie Payne ’09 from Oregon Health and Sciences University — Nursing Leadership finalist.
- Michell Santoro ’04 from Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center — Nurse Educator/Research/Nursing Informatics finalist.
- Courtney Smith ’09 from Legacy Emanuel Medical Center — Pediatrics finalist.
The Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing is the longest running nursing school in the Northwest and continues to evolve to meet the needs of new generations of nurses. The faculty are leaders in nursing education, pioneering advances in patient care, sustainability and curriculum development. The school awarded its first graduate degree – a Master of Science in Nursing – in August 2021 and recently announced a Master’s Entry into Professional Nursing program starting in 2023. The Linfield-Good Samaritan School of Nursing is located on the 20-acre Linfield University Portland Campus in northeast Portland.
More information on the Heroes in Action award is online at https://heroesinaction.marchofdimes.org.
Learn more about Linfield’s School of Nursing at linfield.edu/nursing.
Note: story orginally published Oct. 10, 2022 and updated March 3, 2023.
