About UI Health

Safety Star Award

The Safety Star award highlights the providers and staff who help ensure quality and safety in our care environments. Safety Star awardees are models for how to prioritize patient and employee safety at UI Health.

June 2025

Gissell Perez

Submitted by: Mila Nedeljkovic  
I am writing to formally recognize and commend Gissell Perez, CMA, for her outstanding performance preventing a near-miss incident. Gissell’s quick thinking, attention to detail, and dedication to patient safety were instrumental in averting a potentially serious situation. Gissell found the damaged scope, manually leak tested, and removed the scope from the clean area. Gissell’s prompt and decisive actions ensured the scope was removed from the clinic. This not only prevented harm to the patient but also highlighted Gissell’s exceptional skills and commitment to maintaining the highest standards of care. Gissell's actions reflect the core values of our organization and serve as an inspiring example to her colleagues. Her vigilance and professionalism are truly commendable, and we are proud to present this award for her outstanding contribution to patient safety. Gissell’s dedication and expertise are invaluable assets to our team, and we are grateful for her continued commitment to excellence.

February 2025

Leon Rojas

Congratulations! You are a Safety Star Award recipient! The Safety Star Award is presented to an employee who continuously contributes to the delivery of world class patient care, regularly shows good judgment and initiative, goes above and beyond performance expectations; is a role model, demonstrates a willingness to become more efficient and effective when providing patient care and consistently acts as a Role Model for UI CARE.

Here is a little of what your nomination said:

Leon is an IR Radiology technologist. An intubated, proned patient was placed on IR table. As we were prepping the patient, Leon recognized the patient’s hand was dangling in a way that could have run into the equipment and been harmful to the patient. Leon very respectfully asked that we stop and help him tuck the patient’s arm into the straps/armboard. It’s important to note that Leon had simply come into the room to give an extra hand- it wasn’t his assigned room, and he could have just sat in the control area, but instead he helped like a great team member AND saved a patient from potential harm.

January 2025

Jim Stein

Congratulations! You are a Safety Star Award recipient! The Safety Star Award is presented to an employee who continuously contributes to the delivery of world class patient care, regularly shows good judgment and initiative, goes above and beyond performance expectations; is a role model, demonstrates a willingness to become more efficient and effective when providing patient care and consistently acts as a Role Model for UI CARE.

Here is a little of what your nomination said:

“During Noise level measurements one evening, I heard a loud alarm that kept going off on the 5th floor every 15 minutes or so.

I started trying to track it down and met up with a Security Guard (Jim Stein) who was also walking the floors looking for the source of the alarm that he was hearing.

We located it at the stairway door (5S4) on the 5th floor. It wasn't closing completely half of the time. There is a delay before the alarm goes off, so if a person isn’t closing it, they wouldn't notice. Jim closed it tight and put a sign up on both sides of the door asking people to pull it closed upon entry and exit.

The 5th floor is a pediatric floor. That door needs to shut and lock so that no one can leave the floor in case of a Code Pink. We also made sure that a ticket was submitted to have it repaired. Jim showed he was accountable by making sure that the door was secured and fixed.”

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