St. Joseph's Leaders Honored for Service

Syracuse, NY (November 28, 2016) – This month, two members of St. Joseph’s Health were recognized with St. Joseph’s Leadership in the Franciscan Tradition award:

Deborah Welch, St. Joseph’s Vice President for People and Mission Integration

Welch has been a part of the St. Joseph’s family for half of her lifetime. She began her career as a member of our behavioral health team, where she developed critical perspective to help her understand the challenges of the patient population as well as the challenges and the work of the staff that serves the needs of that population. She has been a leader in much of St. Joseph’s groundbreaking work in the development of Behavioral Health programs, is a respected community leader, and consistently demonstrates her compassionate focus on employee and patient advocacy. Under her guidance, St. Joseph’s internal communications has improved, Patient Satisfaction scores have improved, and Patient Advocacy has improved.

Jessica Caruso, RN, Clinical Director for Emergency and Observation Services with St. Joseph’s Inpatient Behavioral Health.

Caruso has been a nurse with St. Joseph’s Health for several years, and was promoted to the position of Clinical Director in January 2016. She was nominated for this award by her team who described that, even in the short time since becoming Clinical Director, Caruso has demonstrated that she is a strong leader who is empathetic and kind, compassionate and fair – giving the staff and patients her full attention and respect. She also strives toward continual improvement with new programs, staff initiatives, and patient care, gathering input from everyone involved and empowering her team.

This award recognizes and honors the leaders within the St. Joseph’s Health organization who follow St. Francis of Assisi as servant leaders. As a Catholic organization in the Franciscan tradition, St. Joseph’s Health calls on its leaders to strive to lead and serve the way St. Francis did.

About St. Joseph’s Health

St. Joseph’s Health is a non-profit regional health care system based in Syracuse, N.Y., providing services to patients throughout Central New York and northern Pennsylvania. From primary to specialty to home care, to our Magnet-recognized hospital, and in collaboration with our community partners, St. Joseph's Health is advancing the health of the communities we serve through an expanding range of healthcare services to ensure our patients achieve optimum long-term health. Ranked by Consumer Reports among the top 15 heart surgery centers in the country, U.S. News “Best Regional Hospital” and a 15-time winner of the National Research Corporation Consumer Choice award, St. Joseph’s is widely recognized for quality, value and delivering the highest patient satisfaction. St. Joseph’s Health is affiliated with Franciscan Companies and St. Joseph’s Physicians and is a part of Trinity Health.