IDPH Recognizes Peggy San Filippo For Excellence In Pediatric Care

Ron W. Lee, M.D. Pediatric Care Award – Lifetime Achievement

 
SPRINGFIELD– The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program are honoring Margaret (Peggy) San Filippo, R.N., a nurse in the emergency department at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital since 1970 and their EMS Educator since 2003, with a special pediatric Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to childhood care.  The Ron W. Lee, M.D. – Excellence in Pediatric Care Awards are given annually by IDPH and EMSC to recognize those dedicated to pediatric emergency care and childhood injury prevention initiatives.  Individuals or organizations can be nominated in one of three award categories - Lifetime Achievement, Clinical Excellence, and Community Service.
 
“Nurse San Filippo is known not only as an excellent emergency department nurse and EMS educator, but also for her knowledge, expertise, and skill in teaching certification courses such as Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Pediatric Education for Prehospital Providers, START/JumpSTART Triage, as well as many other trainings and courses for almost 50 years,” said IDPH Director Nirav D. Shah, M.D. J.D.  “Her dedication has benefitted hundreds of health care and emergency services professionals.  I am proud to award Peggy San Filippo the Ron W. Lee, M.D. Excellence in Pediatric Care Lifetime Achievement Award.”
 
Nurses from Presence Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center have said, “Peggy serves so many roles, with one of the most important being her role as a mentor to all the nurses within the Emergency Department and beyond.  Many charge nurses start their shift asking ‘is Peggy here today?’  Everyone feels more comfortable when she is around and knows they can come to her with even the most trivial questions.  She always listens patiently before providing the most up to date answer.  She empowers you with her knowledge and makes every nurse strive to be better.”
 
“This lifetime of work has undoubtedly resulted in better pediatric care as the healthcare providers whom she has worked with for decades attend to pediatric patients in ambulances and at the bedside in hospitals every day.  That is where it counts most,” said Illinois Medical Emergency Response Team Executive Director Mary Connelly.
 
The Ron W. Lee, M.D. Excellence in Pediatric Care awards are presented each May.  Dr. Lee was the medical director for the Division of Emergency Medical Services and Highway Safety at IDPH, as well as the director of emergency medicine at Loyola University Medical Center and was instrumental in establishing and fostering the EMSC program in Illinois.  He passed away in 1998.
 
The Illinois EMSC program is currently a collaborative effort between IDPH and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.  It was established in 1994 to ensure the emergency medical care needs of children are adequately addressed.
 

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