UCSF Division of Geriatrics New Staff Recognition Awardees!

In January 2020 the UCSF Division of Geriatrics announced a new staff recognition program to recognize division staff across multiple organizations, UCSF, SFVAHCS & NCIRE.  Our Staff Outstanding Recognition Award was inspired by Lilo & Stitch from the heart warming line - “Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind.” Thus, Our Staff Outstanding Recognition Award (aka Ohana Award) is a family of 3 sub-awards representing the following values:  Leadership & Teamwork, Creativity & Problem Solving, Friendship & Collegiality.

Lia Locasto have been selected to receive the Division of Geriatrics Staff Outstanding Recognition Award for your demonstrated leadership and teamwork!  Lia was nominated by Andreana Ososki for leading the efforts around data for the GPEC service line, particularly for Home Based Primary Care.  Lia took initiative in learning new ways to collect and organize data, including learning SQL.  She demonstrated both leadership in teamwork by developing standard operating procedures for GPEC administrative staff, which has allowed for easier training and cross training of staff across multiple programs.  Lia is always willing to help and the first person to volunteer to help cover administrative needs in any of the GPEC many programs.

Czarina Hornilla was selected to receive the Division of Geriatrics Staff Outstanding Recognition Award for her demonstrated creativity and problem solving!  Czarina was nominated by Jessica Eng for her excellent problem solving and creativity in addressing a large range of VA GPEC service line issues. Particularly, in the move to telework for COVID mitigation, Czarina was effective in adapting administrative processes to the new virtual environment to ensure operations continued smoothly. With most staff no longer on site, Czarina’s expertise in technology was particularly valuable to the GPEC service line.  The work she put into developing an efficient workflow to process what was needed to create and approve telework agreements for the entire service line in a timely manner was superb!  Czarina effectively developed solutions across the service line by collaborating with other services such as Engineering and Logistics, including organizing a large cleanup of unnecessary office supplies cluttering offices and storage areas. She demonstrated that she is never afraid to roll up her sleeves or to research how best to address issues that come up, and she did this all with a smile on her face and a positive, upbeat attitude.

Robert Ramirez have been selected to receive the Division of Geriatrics Staff Outstanding Recognition Award for your demonstrated friendship and collegiality!  Robert was nominated by Anne Fabiny for his successful efforts in rebuilding strong relationships with our VA contract nursing homes and adult day health community partners which was critical to the GPEC service line. Through his collegiality and excellent customer service skills, Robert has been effective at addressing back logs of claims. In addition, his ability to build bridges extends to our internal partners the SFVA Office of Community Care and VA payment operations and management team. The trust Robert has built sets up strong productive relationships on which to build the future of our GPEC programs.