Meet the fourth-quarter Strauss Award winners
Congratulations to the latest class of the Diana and Richard C. Strauss Service Excellence Award honorees.
The winners for the fourth quarter of 2022 were celebrated during a virtual event on Feb. 24 hosted by John Warner, M.D., Executive Vice President for Health System Affairs and Health System CEO.
Once each quarter, six team members are nominated by their peers for exemplifying excellence and professionalism on the job.
Three things that define Strauss Award recipients:
- They excel at their jobs.
- They serve as role models for the next generation of employees.
- They share a spirit of volunteerism that strengthens our community.
Watch: Dr. Warner honors winners during the virtual event.
Charmie Faith Frykman, B.S.N., RN, PMHNP, CMSRN, BC
Registered Nurse
6 Green, Surgical Specialty
“She carries a willing heart, a positive attitude, and a desire to make a difference. She demonstrates teamwork, [which] enables our patients to have a great experience during their stay in the hospital and under her care. She has an honest and fair approach in addressing staff issues, making all feel respected and valued as individuals. She takes ownership of every responsibility and is emotionally bound to see it through to fulfillment.”
UTSW career: Mrs. Frykman will celebrate eight years at UT Southwestern this month. In addition to providing exceptional bedside care and helping out as a charge nurse on 6 Green, she serves as a preceptor for the medical-surgical unit.
In her role: Recognized as an “informal leader” whom her colleagues look to for guidance and support, Mrs. Frykman has been instrumental in establishing several initiatives in her department, including innovations in hourly rounding and incorporating continuous passive motion (CPM) machines into surgery patients’ recovery programs.
Always learning something new: A self-proclaimed lifelong learner, Mrs. Frykman recently completed her master’s degree and now is certified as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. In February, she passed her Med-Surg certification exam.
Highly decorated for her service: Among Mrs. Frykman’s many accolades, she has been named Employee of the Month and received a gold PACT pin for her superior organizational values and customer service.
Off the clock: Mrs. Frykman is deeply committed to helping people locally and around the globe. She participated in a 10-day medical mission to Nicaragua, which provided medical care to 1,000 individuals. She also took part in an educational mission to Ecuador where, in addition to teaching 200 children, she helped to renovate a group home for abandoned girls. Back in the metroplex, she has repeatedly opened the doors of her home to people experiencing homelessness.
Rachel Herbeck, PT, D.P.T.
Physical Therapist
Acute Therapy Services
“Rachel takes initiative to problem-solve and to bridge any gaps in patient needs or care at UT Southwestern through her proactive actions and her program development. We are so proud she is a part of our department and our campus community and can without a doubt say she has had and will continue to have a significant impact on our profession and future generations of physical therapists.”
UTSW Career: Dr. Herbeck joined UT Southwestern as a physical therapist in 2014. She earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Texas Woman’s University and has been with the UTSW Health System community ever since. She is deeply committed to advancing the educational mission, serving as the Coordinator for Clinical Education for the Acute Therapy Services Department.
In her role: Among her responsibilities, Dr. Herbeck organizes clinical rotations for physical therapy students who rotate through William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital (CUH) from therapy schools across the region. An area in which she has excelled is with the Geriatrics team, including planning and implementing the Acute Care for Elders (ACE) program. She has also worked closely with the Orthopaedics service line to establish the treatment of patients under the Returning Seniors to Orthopedic Excellence (RESTORE) hip fracture program.
A leader in her profession: In 2022, Dr. Herbeck was honored with the prestigious Dorn Long Outstanding Clinical Educator Award from the Texas Consortium for Physical Therapy Clinical Education. The award is presented annually to 10 or fewer individuals throughout the state for clinical education excellence. She was involved in UT Southwestern’s recent successful survey by The Joint Commission, earning CUH the distinction of being a Certified Hip Fracture Center of Excellence; and for the past three consecutive years, Rachel has also been the recipient of the Gold PACT pin.
In her own words: “What I really enjoy about working in a hospital setting, specifically as a therapist, is I love the teamwork that comes into play. I also love that we work in such a medically complex teaching environment. I feel like I come to work every day and each patient I see has a different condition and nuanced needs. I’m constantly challenged with my critical thinking every day.”
Off the clock: A big fan of traveling, Dr. Herbeck plans to visit South Korea in April. Closer to home, she loves to try new foods, especially in the company of friends. She has also taken to growing her own foods, tending to tomatoes, okra, kale, radishes, and other vegetables. Most recently, she added cauliflower and broccoli to her garden, which proved popular with her dogs. (The pets ate them before they could be harvested!)
Charlie Hernandez
PAS Intake Specialist – Simmons Cancer Center
Cancer Genetics
“Charlie is fondly known by many as the caretaker of our team. He is passionate about his job and his team and is constantly looking out for his colleagues. Charlie is a neighbor to all who will go out of his way to help others.”
UTSW career: Mr. Hernandez will celebrate 15 years at UT Southwestern in March. Before arriving to UTSW, he worked at Parkland Memorial Hospital. He’s spent most of his career within the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. When patients are referred to Cancer Genetics, it’s often Charlie’s voice they first hear – in either English or Spanish. He said he finds it very rewarding to take away some of a patient’s apprehension and intimidation when they’re trying to establish their care, mapping out the process, and helping them get their paperwork completed and processed. On the job, he’s known as “reliable,” steadfast,” and “detail-oriented.”
In his role: Working to intake patients, Mr. Hernandez continuously looks for ways to improve the process so patients feel confident in UT Southwestern and prepared for their first appointment. He registers them, enters referrals, and schedules lab work. When not tending to his primary duties, he serves as a mentor to less experienced colleagues.
Sticking together: Described by a colleague as “the glue that holds our team together,” Mr. Hernandez will do anything he can think of to make the day go more smoothly for patients or co-workers. He recently received a PACT card from a colleague who was struggling to adapt to a new process; Charlie had taken time out to tutor her until she mastered the changes.
In his own words: “I’m constantly learning something different every day and that’s what I like about [my job]. My job is never boring. There’s always something going on, and just when you think you know the answer to it, things change. You have to readjust yourself, but that’s how you grow.”
Off the clock: When he’s not working, Mr. Hernandez likes to unwind by baking delicious treats. He specializes in cupcakes, cookies, and pies that he said serve the dual purpose of helping him clear his mind while he creates them and delighting his colleagues when he brings them in to celebrate a team member’s birthday or work milestone.
Martina Phol, CMA
Certified Medical Office Assistant
Occupational Health Special Pathogens Team
“Having a job in Occupational Health means interacting with any number of nearly 24,000 employees and almost 4,000 students and trainees at UT Southwestern. Whether it’s a housekeeper, a nurse, a volunteer, a doctor – or even the president of UT Southwestern – she treats everyone with equal care, compassion, patience, and respect. Employees often sing Martina’s praises for her professionalism after she finishes with their calls.”
UTSW career: Mrs. Phol has worked at UT Southwestern since 2019, originally hired as a float pool certified medical office assistant (MOA). Since joining the Occupational Health Special Pathogens Team in 2021, she has assumed several key responsibilities, including as an administrative associate who plays a fundamental role in the employee COVID-19 response.
In her role: If you’ve ever scheduled a COVID-19 test or been checked on following a positive test or exposure, chances are Mrs. Phol helped with some part of the process. She works diligently to ensure that employees who test positive are effectively monitored. A key player in campus contact tracing, her tireless work monitoring the recovery of COVID-19-positive employees has helped to keep the campus community safe. Throughout the day, she also schedules appointments for annual TB testing, respirator fit testing, and various vaccines.
Improving all the time: Her nominator calls her an “indispensable asset,” and those who have the pleasure of interacting with Mrs. Phol know why. She created several how-to guides for her teammates to address frequently asked questions. Aside from her departmental duties, Mrs. Phol also provides ad hoc support to Student Health, where she checks vitals, assists with procedures, and collects and packages specimens for labs.
The problem-solver: “A favorite part of my job is – I know it’s going to sound weird – but it’s taking phone calls. I pick up calls from all different kinds of people … and when I’m able to assist and guide them, I get a lot of satisfaction out of that.”
Off the clock: Going for long walks is Mrs. Phol’s favorite way to decompress. When she’s not on the move, she loves to work on puzzles, especially Sudoku.
Gretel Reyes-Salaum, B.S.N., RN
RN Care Coordinator
Department of Care Coordination
“I often make the analogy that Gretel is like an ‘air traffic controller,’ effectively communicating with the patients, families, health care teams, and house operations to troubleshoot any situation that arises.”
UTSW career: Mrs. Reyes-Salaum has served as an RN Care Coordinator at UT Southwestern for 11 years and has been a nurse for more than 25 years. She has a tremendous breadth of experience that she shares with teammates. Her contributions to health care stretch across Neurology, telemetry, intermediate care, intensive care, bed control, rehab, and neonatal care.
In her role: She serves as the lead weekend care coordinator, overseeing eight fellow coordinators, and manages the discharge of an average of 100 patients or so on Saturdays and Sundays from CUH and Zale Lipshy Pavilion. The Health System has experienced tremendous growth in care coordination over the past five years, and she makes certain that discharges are completed safely and efficiently.
She gets it: Mrs. Reyes-Salaum understands that comprehensive care coordination and discharge planning are crucial as they contribute to positive outcomes and satisfaction with the health care experience while also helping to reduce unplanned readmissions. She ensures that her team provides a detailed handoff to the weekday care coordination team. As evidence of her excellence, she was named the July 2022 Care Coordinator of the Month.
Working for the weekend: “Working weekends can be very busy, but that’s something I love about my job because you get to see a lot of patients and talk to a lot of people,” Mrs. Reyes-Salaum said.
Off the clock: She is just as passionate about serving her community. In addition to being a loyal participant in heart and breast cancer walks, she donates to the National Food Bank and relief programs in the Philippines.
Sharlynne Serapio, M.A.E.M., B.S.N., RD, RN
Clinical Nurse Educator
Ambulatory Nursing Operations
“Sharlynne’s passion for education is evident when speaking with her and through her work. She is compassionate. Many of her clinics have new leaders, and she has spent time individually with them to ensure they have the resources they need to be successful.”
UTSW career: Mrs. Serapio joined the Health System in August 2020 during one of the toughest times of the COVID-19 pandemic. A clinical nurse educator with Ambulatory Nursing Operations, she has been instrumental to the success of the Medical Assistant Clinical Ladder program, transitioning the submission process from paper to electronic, and constantly updating procedures to improve communication with staff.
In her role: Mrs. Serapio is an integral part of the Clinical Education and Professional Development team and supports many education programs such as New Hire Orientation, Clinical Ladder, Preceptor Workshop, AHA classes, Ambulatory RN residency track, and nurse planning. She provides evidence-based education and training by researching the most up-to-date findings on topics relevant to clinical practice. She also works with an interdisciplinary team to develop additional courses and instructor-led training to advance professional development.
Magnetic attraction: Among her many accomplishments, Mrs. Serapio aided the Health System in achieving redesignation as a Magnet organization. She did so by partnering with clinic leaders and staff to ensure UT Southwestern was prepared to showcase its many successes for the appraisal visit in 2021.
Like a bridge: “I think why I love this role so much is because you’re sort of the bridge between management and staff,” Mrs. Serapio said. “You’re not the nurses working on the floor or the leaders making the tough decisions, but you’re working closely with both of them, helping to bring it all together.”
Off the clock: Outside of work, Mrs. Serapio is engaged in the Filipino Catholic Ministry. She enjoys family time – and that includes walking her dog, Caramel – more than any hobby or craft.