Salisbury, MD and Seaford, DE — TidalHealth is pleased to announce the following four Team Members of the Year. The 2025 award year covers three quarters of 2025 and the first of 2026:
TidalHealth Nanticoke’s 2025 Clinical Team Member of the Year
Brittany Bell of the Progressive Care Unit (PCU) is TidalHealth Nanticoke’s 2025 Clinical Team Member of the Year.
Bell, a unit secretary, provides a bright smile on a busy shift, is always ready to offer a kind word of encouragement, and asks team members how she can make their day smoother.
Bell is helpful in so many ways. She is one of the safety officers and completes monthly safety checks on the unit. She submits tickets for items that need repair and communicates well with environmental services and facilities team members.
Bell does most of the hand hygiene audits for PCU and makes sure to remind the team of the importance of handwashing. She communicates well with all team members who visit the PCU and notifies the monitor technician if a patient is leaving the unit to provide them with the extension of where the patient is going.
Bell takes on new tasks with a happy heart and willing attitude. She is non-judgmental and accepts everyone for who they are. She treats each person with respect and kindness. Bell always helps with summer VolunTEENs on the unit, making them feel welcomed and keeping them busy with many important tasks.
TidalHealth Nanticoke’s 2025 Non-Clinical Team Member of the Year
Sarah Hastings, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, is TidalHealth Nanticoke’s 2025 Non-Clinical Team Member of the Year.
Hastings, a certified occupational therapy assistant, consistently demonstrates exceptional dedication to patient care, often making herself available for visits outside her regular working hours, especially when the clinic is short-staffed. Her commitment extends beyond the clinic; she has even volunteered to work at the hospital during snow closures to ensure continuity of care.
Over the past six months, Hastings has refined and mastered her postoperative rotator cuff repair therapy skills, closely following orthopedic protocols and achieving high-quality rehabilitation outcomes. As a highly skilled lymphedema specialist, she has produced remarkable improvements for patients with fluid buildup in the head, neck, arms, axilla, legs and pelvic area. Her expertise has earned her a strong reputation, leading to a steady stream of referrals from communities ranging from Snow Hill, Maryland, to Middletown, Delaware.
Hastings is also a passionate advocate and educator for her patients, ensuring they have access to appropriate equipment, maintenance materials and individualized home exercise programs. She maintains strong relationships with multiple vendors who provide pneumatic compression pumps and gradient compression garments directly to patients’ homes.
For the past year, Hastings has taken the lead in keeping the occupational-lymphedema clinic fully stocked, proactively ordering new products to support the department’s delivery of high-quality care. In addition, she has served as a mentor to several occupational therapy students, fostering professional growth and advancing the field. Students from Delaware Technical Community College and Wor-Wic Community College continue to seek her guidance, benefiting from her extensive knowledge and hands-on instruction.
TidalHealth Peninsula Regional’s 2025 Clinical Team Member of the Year
Julie Benjamin of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is TidalHealth Peninsula Regional’s 2025 Clinical Team Member of the Year.
Benjamin, a patient care technician, routinely goes above and beyond for her patients and fellow team members. She is thorough in her care and ensures that her patients are clean, comfortable and supported to the best of her ability. During one shift, Benjamin was scheduled in the ICU when someone from the Emergency Department (ED) called asking if she could help interpret for a patient’s mother who did not speak English.
Benjamin immediately agreed and coordinated with the charge nurse to determine where she could assist. In this instance, the ED had received a critically ill infant. The patient’s mother struggled to understand what was happening with her child. Team members worked tirelessly on the infant, and Benjamin stayed with the mother for the entire six hours, comforting her, interpreting and explaining updates from the doctors and nurses.
Tragically, the baby passed away, and Benjamin compassionately communicated the news to the mother. She also assisted with communication with the medical examiner, who is always involved in these types of situations. Benjamin provided interpretation for all questions, offering clarity and comfort to the mother in an incredibly difficult situation.
Interpreting for a patient outside one’s care area is already going above and beyond. Doing so during such an emotionally challenging situation, including delivering devastating news, demonstrates a level of compassion and dedication that is extraordinary. Benjamin embodies what it means to provide exceptional care and support to those around her.
Benjamin’s empathy and dedication left a lasting impact — her patients and team see her heart of gold, and the mother will never forget the support Benjamin provided during her darkest moment.
TidalHealth Peninsula Regional’s 2025 Non-Clinical Team Member of the Year
Victoria “Vickie” Adkins, of Environmental Services, is TidalHealth Peninsula Regional’s 2025 Non-Clinical Team Member of the Year.
Adkins, an environmental services aide, is genuinely compassionate every single day. She consistently gives 100% to her work and takes great pride in what she does.
The Progressive Care Unit (PCU) team can always tell when Adkins is on vacation — the unit simply isn’t the same without her. Her exceptional attention to detail keeps everything spotless, and she brings joy and positivity to both patients and colleagues alike.
Recently, Adkins went above and beyond by taking the time to thoroughly clean a homeless patient’s wheelchair, showing not only her dedication but also her deep sense of care and humanity.
