Melissa Husted and Winnie Gittens are up for Pennsylvania’s 2019 Direct Care Worker of the Year
The Times
BAYADA Home Health Care’s Langhorne office recently nominated Melissa Husted of Morrisville and Winnie Gittens of Philadelphia for the Pennsylvania Home Care Association’s 2019 Direct Care Worker of the Year Award for their hard work, compassion, and dedication to their clients’ health and well-being.
“Melissa and Winnie have both been with our office for about a year-and-a-half, and they both are so committed to delivering high-quality, compassionate care their clients need to be able to stay at home with their loved ones,” said associate director JoAnne Waters. “When I heard PHA was seeking nominees for the Direct Care Worker of the Year Award, I thought, ‘I couldn’t possibly decide between the two,’ and so I nominated both.”
PHA established the Direct Care Worker of the Year Award to: recognize the outstanding work of home health aides who provide care to the thousands of older Pennsylvanians that rely on this service to stay independent and living within their communities; demonstrate the Commonwealth’s commitment to elevating the profession of direct care workers; and to spotlight the value and rewards of serving as a professional caregiver.
PHA’s Selection Committee will review the nominations and select one statewide winner. All nominees will receive a certificate of recognition from the Secretary of Aging and be invited to attend the 2019 Direct Care Worker Forum in Harrisburg in March, which will feature a half-day training program and end with the announcement of the Direct Care Worker of the Year, who will receive a $1,000 prize.
BAYADA provides home care services to more than 14,000 Pennsylvanians, and offices across the state have nominated 32 home health aides for this prestigious award. In addition to PHA’s celebrations, each BAYADA office that nominated an employee for the award will host a recognition ceremony of their own.
“Recognizing and rewarding our nominees is important to us at BAYADA, especially given the incredible, life-changing work that these home health aides do for a low wage. Our legislative goal this year is to increase the state’s personal assistance services [PAS] reimbursement rate so that we can recognize aides like Melissa and Winnie by giving them the wages they deserve,” said Waters.
