Ballad Health Announces 2024 Servant’s Heart Award Recipients
Each year, Ballad Health honors a select group of team members with the Scott and Nikki Niswonger Servant’s Heart Award, the organization’s highest honor. Over the coming weeks, the 2024 Servant’s Heart Award winners will be highlighted through videos, stories and photos — and Ballad Health will open the nomination process for the 2025 awards.
The award honors four categories of team members: volunteers, physicians, front-line team members and leaders. It is given to members of Ballad Health who have been recognized by their peers for displaying the heart of a servant by going above and beyond the normal call of duty in helping others at work and in the community. They model the philosophy of patient-centered care.
The award was named in honor of Scott and Nikki Niswonger. Scott is a Greeneville businessman and philanthropist who is the chief benefactor of the Niswonger Children’s Hospital in Johnson City, and a member of the Ballad Health board of directors. The Niswongers have a long history of serving others throughout the region, with a strong focus on education highlighted by the creation of The Niswonger Foundation.
2024 Servant’s Heart award-winners
- Dr. Karen Elmore – Emory Internal Medicine, Abingdon Physician Partners
- Tina Gay – volunteer, Holston Valley Medical Center
- Jennifer Johnson – retail director, Ballad Health
- Kelsey McCoy – physician assistant, Rural Health Clinic Lebanon
- Rhonda Perkins – volunteer, Cancer Center, Johnston Memorial Hospital
- Annette Silvers, RN – Franklin Woods Community Hospital ICU/PCU
- Stacy Stacey, RN – Family Birth Center, Bristol Regional Medical Center
- Velvet Vanover, RN – system manager, clinical education, Ballad Health
The winners are recognized internally by Ballad Health and are presented with a crystal trophy. Ballad Health also donates $1,000 to the charity of choice for each recipient – a way for these award-winners to keep on giving.
Servant’s Heart nominations for 2025
The Servant’s Heart nomination process is open to the public, so patients, family members and other members of the community can recognize someone at Ballad Health who has made a difference in their lives. The submission form offers a place to describe what this particular caregiver did and why they deserve recognition.
Submit your nomination and learn more about the Servant’s Heart Award. The nomination period for the 2025 awards lasts through Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 and the winners will be announced in 2025.
