Extra Mile Award

Nursing, like most medical sciences, usually advances in small and sometimes imperceptible increments. But occasionally someone inspires significant forward motion, advancing the profession and serving the community in unexpected ways. Dr. Butch de Castro, PhD, MSN/MPH, RN, FAAN, is one of those movers.

Racism is a public health crisis. In his work as Associate Dean of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Butch de Castro came to UW tasked with making a meaningful impact on awareness of racism, both personal and systemic, and of helping nurses become better care providers by addressing racism at all levels. After years of developing anti-racist trainings and cultivating an active DEI community, Butch has made a huge leap: the creation of the nation’s first Center for Antiracism in Nursing, based at the University of Washington School of Nursing.

The Center is developing tools and techniques to better serve those who have faced disparate health outcomes and is doing so in partnership with the communities nurses serve.  This will provide a template for nursing schools and facilities everywhere, give nursing at all career stages the skills to be active advocates for antiracism. For his dedicated and strong work, and the far-reaching impact of that work on all communities nationally, we feel Butch de Castro is deserving of recognition with the Washington Secretary of State Extra Mile Award.

On November 25, 2020, Christine was working at the Sprague Lake Rest Area Eastbound when she saw a citizen fall to the ground, apparently suffering from cardiac arrest. Christine approached the individual, started administering CPR, and continued to do whatever she could to help him until the ambulance arrived. She did this without hesitation regardless of her safety in this age of Covid.

Then, when the paramedics took over administering CPR Christine transitioned to assist with traffic control. Christine Harding is deserving of the Extra Mile Award for her resilience, courage, and exemplary public service for assisting a citizen in physical distress. Chris’s extra effort is an excellent example of her professionalism and dedication to our Eastern Region team culture.

Administrators and staff of DVA’s four Washington State Veterans Homes worked tirelessly overcoming multiple obstacles in combating the spread of the COVID virus while protecting vulnerable residents and staff. They worked countless hours and endured safety and occupational risks not only to themselves but to their own families. Throughout the pandemic, they demonstrated resilience, steadfast judgment, and dedication to Serving Those Who Served. During this time they: 

• Devised innovative visitation solutions such as window visits
• Purchased mobile devices (iPads) for use by residents for virtual visits
• Implemented Facetime and telehealth visits
• Built visitation cubicles 
• Installed high-efficiency particulate absorbing filters in all HVAC systems 
• Partnered with other state agencies and state veteran homes across the country to seek out Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) supply chains due to a national shortage.
• Coordinated with the VA Medical Centers and local hospitals to transfer and care for positive COVID residents in their COVID Wings to reduce the spread of the virus 

The Nursing Department at Eastern State Hospital (ESH) is innovative, inclusive, and has shown exemplary leadership while providing outstanding customer service. This highly functioning team has over 140 years of state service in nursing and strives to build a workplace culture where patients and employees are valued.

Our servant leadership style, promotes a higher employee morale and engaged environment which is evident by the increase in our employee engagement survey participation. We value the opinions of our staff, and practice, shared- partnership with our front line staff in order to improve outcomes.   As a team we are driven by a passion to transform lives, and advocate for delivering the highest quality care.

In 2020, the Nursing Department was recognized by The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) as having best practices in donning and doffing.  Our safe strategic process for staff working in our COVID ward, was also recognized. Please see video attached.  We have had 32 patients that have tested positive for COVID, and all have met the requirements for recover. A patient’s experience about care he received after being diagnosed with COVID is a testament to the exceptional care provided.

The Olympic Region has started on a Culture of Inclusion (COI) journey together to learn more about diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and how to better communicate and grow together. I asked 3 members of our staff to form a workgroup (Workgroup) and create content and a training plan for the roughly 650 employees participating in our journey.

The Workgroup members are passionate about the topic and have taken the concept and turn it into what we are calling a Road Trip for our region. This Road Trip is helping our organization managers facilitate important conversations on DEI with our employees and is going to guide us in learning how to incorporate DEI in our everyday work. The Workgroup has created the materials, techniques and methods that our organization managers will use to move along the conversation to provide an inclusive environment in our region.

They have set the tone for our culture and are willing to put in extra effort to see us succeed. They are champions of respect in our organization and are looked to as leaders in the topic. They are extremely responsive to their customers, willing to role-play to help managers become more comfortable with difficult topics and have provided outstanding support to this journey.

In early March Joy realized her planning for environmental education and park stewardship at Deception Pass State Park were going to change because of COVID-19. 2020 would bring no formal nature interpretation in the park. Joy adapted and spearheaded the Skype in the Classroom programming for State Parks, which was a new venture.

Joy and her team delivered 22 programs, 12 of which were out of state schools, reaching 879 students. Many of these students had never seen a tidepool as Joy utilized an underwater camera to deliver her message. She developed a plan that would incorporate informal interpretation. The informal interpretation allowed the park to connect with 29,396 visitors in a safe COVID environment, which included small groups and safe distancing navigating self-guided trips through the Rosario Tidepools, an iconic venture point in the park.

The Rosario Tidepool visitation showed a 177% increase from previous years as people sought outdoor activities that allowed for safe visitation. Joy worked closely with the Samish Tribe in the development of new Ko-kwal-aloot interpretive panels and developed the new Deception Pass Junior Ranger booklet for self-guided children activities in the park. Joy strives each day to be an ambassador for Washington State Parks and Recreation and she educates the visitors about this coveted park on environmental and stewardship issues. Joy is an amazing leader to her team of AmeriCorps service members as she prepares them for their next endeavor in environmental education and resource protection.

Washington's workers' compensation system has gone through a significant culture shift to provide vocational recovery services to injured workers. These services focus on preventing work disability to improve health and return-to-work outcomes for workers, saving hundreds of millions of dollars for employers and the state.

This nomination is for the Vocational Recovery Validation Team - a small but mighty group whose members have designed and implemented a quality assurance model that, for the first time, provides L&I and stakeholders with aggregate data on the provision of these services to workers, employers, and medical providers.

With the phase just completed, the team engages private sector vocational firms in a continuous improvement model. This new model requires each firm and L&I to review certain expectations of vocational providers, identify both excellence and gaps, and agree on improvement plans. The meetings and plan revisions will occur regularly throughout the year.

The Child Nutrition Services (CNS) team and USDA Child Nutrition Program operators stepped up when schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, using innovative techniques and methods to support their communities. Governor Inslee announced statewide school closures on Friday, March 13. That afternoon CNS hosted an emergency meeting to inform program operators of recent developments and provide guidance. And by the following Monday, they were serving meals in a completely new way.

The CNS team and program operators worked diligently to solve problems, finding ways to get meals to children in need. Meals were served from schools, parks, bus stops, and in some cases, delivered directly to homes by food service staff. In addition, childcare centers and community organizations rose to the challenge of operating with an influx of children needing meals. 

Operators provided outstanding customer service in extraordinary ways. They spent countless hours working with families and changing their meal service to maintain the safety and integrity of our programs. 

The CNS team championed visionary thinking and outstanding leadership through advocating for waivers from USDA and providing weekly updates to help operators understand and meet changing regulations due to the pandemic. The waivers created flexibilities allowing service of over 20 million meals in six months. Additionally, the CNS team approved over 800 new meal sites.

CNS and program operators worked tirelessly as a team to go above and beyond.  Their efforts and continued support ensured the children in our state received nutritious meals during the pandemic.

Neil Schuster spent 26 years in the Washington State Patrol (WSP) prior to becoming a Natural Resources Police Officer (NRPO). While at the WSP, he handled homeless problems, often moving them off the highway to a safe place. Once they were moved he did not think about it anymore. After becoming a NRPO he explained he was introduced to the actual homeless problem in his area, on state lands within Mason and Kitsap Counties.

Neil began handling the same issues and dealt with them in the same manner. This is when he decided to take another approach. He would actually visit them, sit with them and would spend time learning who they were and how they ended up in their current situation. As time went on he found it difficult to ask them to move along without providing some assistance. Neil decided to visit local shelters, the Salvation Army and other non-profit organizations.

He gathered supplies including, but not limited to food, toiletries, health care/hygiene items, clean-clothes and informational resources. He then created kits to handout to them. He explained after taking this approach, treating them with respect, showing he truly cares for their welfare, he experienced great success. This approach has set the standard for DNR Police when dealing with these situations.  Neil truly went the extra mile to help those in need.

The spirit and soul of our country were stricken by unprecedented societal and world events last year. This included the COVID-19 pandemic with continuous challenges for staff in adapting to sudden change. We were shaken by the deaths of black Americans by police that occurred in horrible succession under seemingly unjustifiable scenarios.

The shocking scenes, resulting protests and violence jolted the country and had profound personal impacts on our HCA family. HCA BIPOC staff expressed the need to be seen, heard, to connect with one another and the HCA family in a trusted, empowered space. HCA’s Multi-Ethnic Resource Group for Employees (MERGE) displayed extraordinary leadership and immediately elevated these needs to DEI and HCA leaders. They built a collaborative group that developed an innovative 2.5-hour brave space and were key in selflessly volunteering to facilitate the courageous conversations by and for HCA family.

The respect and trust MERGE has earned at HCA with inclusion and hosting tough conversations helped bring almost 300 staff to the forums. These facilitated spaces and process allowed staff to listen and learn from their own personal stories about the effects of racism, bias and injustice on our lives, with a segment on how to be better allies.

Because of this exemplary compassion and leadership, MERGE helped meet an urgent need to amplify voices of those that felt unseen or unheard and are providing the HCA family with opportunities to reimagine change through individual and collective transformation. They exemplify the values and leadership spirit at HCA.  

This nomination is for WSDOT Eastern Region Incident Response Team Member Shane McCandless for exemplary public service when he assisted an unconscious soldier, resulting in him receiving life-saving care. On May 28th, Medic Tyler H. with the Combat Support Hospital at Fairchild AFB was driving home when he began feeling ill. He pulled off of the road near the intersection of I-90 and SR 2, parked, and immediately passed out before he could turn off his vehicle.

About 45 minutes later during his shift, Shane spotted the vehicle and made the choice to come back to investigate. When he saw Tyler slumped over the wheel obviously in trouble, he pounded on the door, the window, and the hood of the car trying to awaken him. Shane called 911, and waited for emergency services to arrive.

Tyler's vehicle had been idling for 45-50 minutes before Shane found him. Tyler's mother, Mary, later shared “The doctor in the E.R. told us very bluntly that because he was suffering from dehydration, a concussion and heat stroke, my son could have very likely died or ended up in a coma in ICU if his car had shut off.”

She called WSDOT and let them know of Shane’s actions, and also called Shane to thank him. "It's all just part of my job," Shane told Mary. "I'm just glad I was there to help."  Shane is very worthy of the Extra Mile Award for the choices and efforts that day that saved Tyler’s life.

Sonal exemplifies commitment to workplace respect and inclusion. Sonal Bawne is an enthusiastic member of OFM DEI Council.  She is a strong advocate for psychologically safe workplaces and considers it vital for any forward-thinking organization. She believes that the path to building a positive culture need not come at a cost and modern organizations need to genuinely invest in this rewarding cause. 

As part of the DEI council within her agency, Sonal actively works on developing DEI policies and procedures for OFM (e.g. bullying policy), developing and reviewing gender neutral norms and standards, and spreading awareness on topics like implicit bias, bullying, psychological safety, and micro-aggression. She has led several work groups, interviews and surveys to gain insights and is involved in outlining specific strategies to meet OFM’s DEI goals.

Sonal Bawne represents OFM in Interagency Committee for State Employed Women (ICSEW). ICSEW seeks to better the lives of state employees through advocacy, outreach, opportunity and by advising on the polices that affect all of us. She is member of Mentoring Subcommittee and is actively working on rolling out a statewide mentorship program. She is also the member of the ICSEW Leg and Policy Subcommittee where she is working on spreading awareness of bills which are in currently considered in the 2021 session. She plans to leverage this platform to help address state employed women issues.

WSDOT’s seven-person Performance Management Office, within the Transportation Safety and Systems Analysis Division, is largely known for its nationally acclaimed performance report, the Gray Notebook, in its 20th year. Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PMO team has taken performance-based decision-making to a new level, pioneering the innovative WSDOT COVID-19 Multimodal Travel Change Dashboard. 

Since March 2020, the PMO team has provided daily information on changing travel trends as requested by the Governor’s office. Reports were initially delivered as five data tables which the PMO team felt were difficult and cumbersome. Reacting to the growing severity of the pandemic, as the Seattle area emerged as “ground zero” for the nation, the PMO team swiftly transformed the tables into a user-friendly interactive dashboard with 24 measures. As a result, users can take a deep dive into information with 45 interactive multimodal features that include aviation, active transportation, Ferries, freight, highways, rail, safety, tolling, and transit. This dashboard also hosts COVID-related traffic data from counties on request. 

The PMO team went the extra-mile, transforming data into a dashboard in three weeks. They worked around the clock, building the platform while simultaneously conducting extensive internal and external reviews for data coordination and compliance. This dashboard is accessible, meets industry standards, and is available on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. Several media outlets frequently cite the dashboard while keeping the traveling public up to date on pandemic traffic trends. The dashboard enables quality decision-making at the highest ranks of state government.

Staci Sleigh-Layman is an innovative and compassionate leader with visionary ideas. When students at Central Washington University shifted to predominately online classes and the majority of employees began working from home in March 2020, Staci sensed people were anxious, felt isolated, and craved a single source of guidance. 

As Executive Director of Human Resources, she approached the team with the idea of a consistent, inclusive virtual gathering. Although we had never hosted a webinar of this magnitude, we recognized the need for a forum where the campus community could express concerns, calm fears, and communicate expectations. To make it easy to remember, we hosted Tuesday Talks each Tuesday at 10:00am. 

Tuesday Talks began March 24, 2020 and have been consistently attended by over two hundred people each week ever since. Staci’s calm and courageous leadership style has brought comfort to many and created a community that did not exist before. While the ability to ask questions anonymously sometimes means being hit with tough inquiries in front of a large audience, Staci has remained insistent that people be given a voice. Her humility, grace under pressure, and over 30 years of experience at CWU allow her to reach people in a way that others have not been able to achieve. 

Tuesday Talks now include speakers from across the university--as well as the city and county—and plans are underway to offer similar talks geared toward faculty and students. 

We are grateful for her leadership, strength, and inspiration.

The Secure Community Treatment Facility (SCTF), on McNeil Island, took on the task of building a program that strengthened the skill sets of staff and taught residents the skills necessary to transition into the community. While adapting to the pandemic, the SCTF has acclimated level three sex offenders back into the community with programming achieved by teamwork, innovative processes, and bringing the community to the workplace.

Our team, led by sensational and dedicated leadership, utilized the staff’s individual skills and strengths reaching unprecedented success. We were tasked with submitting proposals, creating budgets, implementing approved programming, and designing curriculums that created engaging learning environments for all comprehensive levels. Through celebrating our differences, we overcame obstacles, found common interests, focused on individual strengths, and bridged weaknesses. We tailored programming to resident needs, maintained focus on transitional goals, reduced recidivism, and kept safety as our primary goal for reintroducing residents into the community.

Our team identified a need for meaningful resident transition and fulfilled this through challenging, relevant, and interactive education. We have created many classes for the residents including Employment Readiness, Cooking Classes, Arts & Crafts, Meditation, Fitness Instruction, New Resident Orientation, Brain Training/Critical Thinking, Effective Communication, Conflict Resolution and numerous all-inclusive educational projects. Over the past year, our team has become exponentially stronger. Our residents have dedicated their time to developing the skills needed to succeed. Not only are we transforming the lives of our residents, but ours, as well, in a supportive and inclusive environment. 

We have all stopped at a rest area on the way to our destination. We don’t think much about it. Most times we are more concerned about reaching our destination, taking a bit of a rest, or perhaps even having an impromptu picnic. Our Rest Area Attendants are rarely seen but are vital to this often overlooked but necessary convenience, they are true heroes. From the men and women who clean rest areas to those that repair them and keep them in good working order, each one of them is deserving of this PSRW Extra Mile Award for their exemplary public service. So, congratulations to all the Rest Area Attendants for going the Extra Mile.