Longtime Los Alamos resident and artist Keith Kelley’s family members gather to see the unveiling of five paintings he donated to Los Alamos Medical Center. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
LAMC Marketing Director Mary Beth Maassen reveals artist Keith Kelley’s artwork to the public. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Los Alamos Medical Center (LAMC) had a lot to celebrate Wednesday night. LAMC was awarded Medicare’s Four Star Status, LifePoint’s 2015 Operational Excellence Award, and Chief Nursing Officer Tracie Stratton received LifePoint’s 2015 Chief Nursing Officer of the Year.
Additionally, LAMC Marketing Director Mary Beth Maassen unveiled five paintings that longtime Los Alamos resident and artist Keith Kelley donated to the hospital.
LAMC’s four star rating is based on patient satisfaction scores. Medicare bases the rating system on 11 aspects of patient experience, and measures topics such as how well nurses and doctors communicate with patients, how well patients’ pain is managed, and whether the hospital is clean and quiet.
LAMC was furthered honored with a High Five Award for operational excellence. The annual award, presented by LifePoint, recognizes hospitals that have performed most impressively in High Five Guiding Principles, which are: delivering compassionate, high quality patient care; supporting physicians; creating excellent workplaces for employees; strengthening the hospital’s role in the community; and ensuring fiscal responsibility.
LifePoint furthered honored Stratton as its Chief Nursing Officer of the Year. The award is given to an employee who exemplifies the company’s core values of honesty, integrity, trustworthiness, compassion and ethical and legal compliance as well as dedication to advancing quality patient care.
She was not the only staff member to be recognized at the event. Registered Nurse Jennifer DiMarimo received a nomination for the Mercy Award, the highest honor a LifePoint employee can receive. It’s named in memory of LifePoint Founder Scott Mercy and recognizes extraordinary employees who best embrace the humanitarian spirit on which LifePoint Hospitals were founded.
As LAMC celebrated its achievements, it also unveiled a few new art additions to the reception area. Kelley and photographer Patricia Slentz donated a few of their pieces to the hospital.
Kelley, who died in 2011, moved to Los Alamos in 1949 and at age 49 decided to be an artist, Maassen said. His paintings, which he created using a razor blade rather than a paintbrush, sold to collectors throughout the world. One of his works hangs in the Smithsonian.
Besides the tools Kelley used to create his artwork, another unique feature was the rabbits he hid in the paintings. It was explained that Kelley hid rabbits in his artwork to make viewing the paintings fun. If someone caught sight one of the hidden animals, Kelley would award them with a dollar.
Many members of Kelley’s family attended the award ceremony to help unveil his paintings.
“He would have loved it that people are still enjoying his art,” Kelley’s granddaughter Breanna Perera said.
