Sidney Health Center is proud to announce that Marcia Proulx, RN, has been honored with The DAISY Award® for Extraordinary Nurses, a national recognition program that celebrates the skillful and compassionate care nurses provide every day.
The award ceremony, held during National Nurses Week, recognized four exceptional nurses who were nominated by patients and family members for their commitment to outstanding patient care. The nominees included Magen Batchelor, Ceara Miske, Marcia Proulx, and Shaylee Dean.
Marcia’s nomination stems from an incident in January 2025, when a patient experienced a medical emergency in a hospital restroom. After losing consciousness multiple times, the patient called for help. Marcia responded without hesitation—crawling under the bathroom stall to reach the patient, assisting them into a wheelchair, and ensuring rapid transport to the Emergency Room. The patient later recalled Marcia’s calm presence and caring eyes as a source of great comfort during the frightening event.
The nomination also praised the entire Emergency Department team, including the attending physician and Kezia Kohl, CNA, for their seamless coordination and compassionate support. The patient described Marcia as a “true hero,” and credited the entire team with exemplifying the spirit of the DAISY Award.
Marcia joined Sidney Health Center’s Emergency Department in 2022, bringing with her more than a decade of experience from larger healthcare facilities. As a charge nurse, she demonstrates strong leadership and consistently delivers high-quality, patient-centered care.
The DAISY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established in memory of J. Patrick Barnes, who died in 1999 at age 33 from complications of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), an autoimmune disease. The compassionate care Patrick and his family received from nurses during his illness inspired the creation of the DAISY Award. (DAISY stands for Diseases Attacking the Immune System.)
Nurses can be nominated by patients, families, or colleagues. At Sidney Health Center, DAISY Award recipients are selected by a dedicated committee and honored in a special ceremony twice a year. Each honoree receives a certificate of recognition, a DAISY Award pin, and a hand-carved sculpture called A Healer’s Touch, created by artists from the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.
Sidney Health Center’s nursing staff—comprising advanced practice providers, registered nurses, and LPNs—represents 20% of the organization’s workforce, providing compassionate care across all service areas.
If you’ve received exceptional care from a nurse at Sidney Health Center—whether during a hospital stay, clinic visit, emergency situation, outpatient procedure, or long-term care—you can express your gratitude by submitting a DAISY Award nomination. To learn more, visit SidneyHealth.org/Patients/Nominate-a-Nurse.