{"id":140833,"date":"2025-03-06T18:15:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T23:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=140833"},"modified":"2025-03-06T18:15:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T23:15:15","slug":"good-shepherd-rehabilitation-celebrates-service-innovation-at-2025-ace-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=140833","title":{"rendered":"Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Celebrates Service, Innovation at 2025 ACE Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>Featured Image: A view of the full house at ArtsQuest Center for Good Shepherd\u2019s 2025 ACE Awards. (image provided courtesy of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>BETHLEHEM \u2013<\/strong>\u00a0More than 200 Good Shepherd Rehabilitation colleagues gathered Feb. 20, 2025, to celebrate outstanding employee achievement at the 2025 Annual Celebration of Employment (ACE) Awards, hosted at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks. Attendees enjoyed dinner, dessert and an evening full of gratitude.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to recognizing team members celebrating milestones \u2014 ranging from five to 50 years of service at Good Shepherd \u2014 we also celebrated the recipients of the annual Raker Spirit Award and the brand-new Pathfinder Innovation Award.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_140837\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-140837\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/karen-long.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-140837 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/karen-long.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/karen-long.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/karen-long-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/karen-long-768x513.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-140837\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Karen Long delivers a speech while accepting the Raker Spirit Award on stage as President &amp; CEO Michael Spigel, PT, MHA looks on.(image provided courtesy of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Raker Spirit Award: Karen Long<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodshepherdrehab.org\/about-us\/leadership\/karen-long\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Karen Long<\/a>, MBA, PTA, started as a physical therapy assistant (PTA) at Good Shepherd 35 years ago, before becoming a site manager, regional manager and, eventually, vice president of operations for outpatient therapy. She has earned a reputation as a respected leader, innovator and advocate for those who need our care.<\/p>\n<p>The Raker Spirit Award has been given annually to recognize Good Shepherd employees who exemplify, in their day-to-day living, the spiritual values we have come to know as the Raker family legacy. The Rakers\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodshepherdrehab.org\/about-us\/history\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">founded Good Shepherd in 1908<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_140836\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-140836\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/kimberly-kuchinski.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-140836\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/kimberly-kuchinski.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/kimberly-kuchinski.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/kimberly-kuchinski-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/kimberly-kuchinski-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-140836\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Kimberly Kuchinski (left) and Amanda Kleckner (right) receive their award from President &amp; CEO Michael Spigel (center).(image provided courtesy of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Pathfinder Innovation Team Award: Inpatient Pediatrics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Over the past year, the Inpatient Pediatrics team at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodshepherdrehab.org\/location\/good-shepherd-rehabilitation-hospital-emily-howatt-pliskatt-pediatric-unit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital Pediatric Unit<\/a>\u00a0has taken an interdisciplinary approach to improving patient care, processes and programs through a variety of research and education initiatives, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Presented posters and presentations at related clinical conferences<\/li>\n<li>Conducted research on robotic systems for over ground gait in cerebral palsy patients<\/li>\n<li>Investigated BWSTT as a ventilator weaning modality<\/li>\n<li>Developed groundbreaking education on neonatal intensive care<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The team \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodshepherdrehab.org\/why-choose-us\/doctors\/kimberly-kuchinski\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dr. Kimberly Kuchinski<\/a>, Erika Carter, Erika Steinke, Rebecca Gormley, Kandis Jones, Cheryl Turbett, Amy Morris, Ana Maria Garcia, Brenda Early and Lindsey Nolt \u2014advanced outcomes and improved quality of life for our smallest patients. Dr. Kuchinski, who is the pediatric hospital\u2019s medical director, and Administrative Director of Pediatrics Amanda Kleckner, PT, DPT, accepted the award on behalf of the team.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_140835\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-140835\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/dan-nunnemaker.jpg\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-2\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\" title=\"\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-140835\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/dan-nunnemaker.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/dan-nunnemaker.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/dan-nunnemaker-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/dan-nunnemaker-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-140835\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dan Nunnemaker (left) receives his award from President &amp; CEO Michael Spigel (right).(image provided courtesy of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Pathfinder Innovation Individual Award: Dan Nunnemaker<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dan Nunnemaker\u2019s ideas, research and practice have sustainably advanced care in ways that could significantly improve patient\/resident outcomes. He was honored with the Pathfinder Innovation Award for his creativity, innovation and impact to the patient experience.<\/p>\n<p>Dan, a certified occupational therapy assistant (COTA) at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodshepherdrehab.org\/location\/good-shepherd-rehabilitation-hospital\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital<\/a>, has submitted nearly 70 idea requests to Good Shepherd\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodshepherdrehab.org\/location\/empower\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">3D printing lab<\/a>\u00a0since January 2024.\u00a0 Many of these ideas became workable prototypes he personally tested with patients. His concepts and proactive approach have resulted in 350-plus individual items being printed \u2013 items that have made life easier for our patients, residents and colleagues.<\/p>\n<p>The evening also celebrated more than 25 Nursing team members who achieved CRRN and NE-BC, as well as nearly 70 clinicians who achieved Advanced Clinician status.<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations to this year\u2019s honorees!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodshepherdrehab.org\/about-us\/newsroom\/good-shepherd-celebrates-service-innovation-at-2025-ace-awards\/\">https:\/\/www.goodshepherdrehab.org\/about-us\/newsroom\/good-shepherd-celebrates-service-innovation-at-2025-ace-awards\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Information provided to TVL by:<br \/>\nMike Walbert<br \/>\nDirector, Marketing<br \/>\nGood Shepherd Rehabilitation<br \/>\nGSPP Rehabilitation, Official Therapy Provider for Penn Medicine<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Featured Image: A view of the full house at ArtsQuest Center for Good Shepherd\u2019s 2025 ACE Awards. (image provided courtesy of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network) BETHLEHEM \u2013\u00a0More than 200 Good &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=140833\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Celebrates Service, Innovation at 2025 ACE Awards<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Ace-Awards.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140833"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/140834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}