Operation Thank You Honors New Mexico Health Care Hero Anne Marie Peeters-Weem Of Los Alamos Medical Center

Anne Marie Peeters-Weem, right, of Los Alamos Medical Center is honored at a ceremony Thursday at the Santa Fe Jet Center, SAF at 109 Aviation Dr. in Santa Fe as part of Operation Thank You. Courtesy/LAMC

Anne Marie Peeters-Weem, center, of LAMC holds a banner during a ceremony Thursday at the Santa Fe Jet Center, SAF at 109 Aviation Dr. in Santa Fe. Courtesy/LAMC

By CAROL A. CLARK
Los Alamos Daily Post
caclark@ladailypost.com

Anne Marie Peeters-Weem, PharmD of Los Alamos Medical Center (LAMC) was selected to represent the hospital Thursday at a national event thanking front line staff and celebrating New Mexico Health Care Heroes.

“We have a great group of pharmacists, and I am excited that Anne Marie is being recognized,” LAMC CEO John Whiteside said. “They are some of the unsung heroes that work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure patient care and safety.”

LAMC Chief Nursing Officer Julie Ward, RN, MSN explained that the Spirit of Liberty Foundation and San Diego Air & space Museum contacted LAMC about Operation Thank You.

“Anne Marie has been a staff pharmacist at LAMC for the past 11 years and specializes in oncology pharmacy,” Ward said. “She is truly dedicated and committed to our community, our patients, our facility and our pharmacy. Anne Marie offers terrific collaboration throughout the facility and is a strong patient advocate.”

Health heroes and first responders have been working tirelessly since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. To say “thank you”, aviators from San Diego took off early Thursday on the first leg of a flying relay that will pass through all of the lower 48 states as part of America’s Operation Thank You.

“The credit goes to the people that we’re honoring. I consider them the greatest generation – today’s greatest generation,” said the chairman of the Spirit of Liberty Foundation Richard Rovsek. “I think these people that are in the trenches working 18 hours a day, seven days a week – and along with our first responders – they need a ‘thank you.’”

That “thank you” will start in San Diego with the San Diego Air and Space Museum and touch down in 98 cities across the country before concluding at the ennd of the month.

“To have a partnership with the Spirit of Liberty Foundation such as this one was a natural for us because it’s going to be the relay in the sky,” said the museum’s president and CEO Jim Kidrick.

To make this all happen takes a lot of people.

“We have over 100 planes flown by over 200 pilots,” Rovsek said.

The pilots will collect flags from each state – with Hawaii and Alaska’s being flown in – to be sewn into one big flag. After the relay of saying “thanks” across the country to health heroes and first responders, the flag of all 50 states will be displayed on the National Mall for all the country to see.

“This is an issue and a cause that people can get behind and get together and say, ‘we’re going to say thank you,’” Rovsek said. “We’re supporting “America’s Operation Thank You–The Relay in the Sky.”

NATA encourages others to do the same by providing space in a hangar, conference room, or area for a brief ceremony paying tribute to heroic members of the community.

LAMC staff pharmacist Anne Marie Peeters-Weem checks out a special plane as part of Operation Thank You, recognizing front line healthcare staff Thursday at the Santa Fe Jet Center, SAF. Courtesy/LAMC

LAMC staff pharmacist Anne Marie Peeters-Weem gets to sit inside a special plane as part of Operation Thank You, recognizing front line healthcare staff Thursday at the Santa Fe Jet Center, SAF. Courtesy/LAMC

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