Bravo Award Recipients - January 2025

The January 2025 Bravo Award winners (L-R; top row, bottom row): Nyree Bejamin, Grace Bowen, Belinda Campbell-Alexander, Darla Espinoza, Bridges Kaminski, John “Jake” Lott, Martha Okonji, and Mauden “Mabel” Ventura. 

Texas Children’s Cancer & Hematology Center is delighted to announce the January 2025 Bravo Award winners. These awards recognize staff who go above and beyond in their roles, providing exceptional care and support to patients and families.  

We're fortunate to recognize a large number of people who represent diverse aspects of our patient care team. Every colleague plays a critical role in helping care for patients and families daily, and the actions of the group below were especially noteworthy to their peers. Our winners this quarter include:

Nyree Bejamin, RN, Main Campus
Nyree is a fantastic Nurse Coordinator for our Sickle Cell team. In this role, she goes above and beyond the call of duty regularly to ensure that every patient receives the highest level of care. She consistently tackles challenges with innovative solutions. She also fosters collaboration among the medical team, staff and external partners to optimize patient care. Nyree embodies the values of Texas Children's Hospital on a daily basis in her unwavering dedication to our patients and team.

Grace Bowen, RN, Main Campus
As a Nurse Coordinator for our Hemostasis and Thrombosis team, Grace excels in every aspect of her role to ensure our young patients with bleeding disorders receive the utmost care and support. She learns about important aspects of clinical care and is adept at the education and monitoring of such patients. She is a team player who is present and active in combined medical/nursing team meetings, giving valuable input and insight in the coordination and management of complex patients. She is also compassionate about families that require intense treatment regimens requiring frequent visits and is able to establish a good rapport with all families to maintain a therapeutic relationship. Grace recently went above and beyond expectations to spend two hours in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), providing education and reassurance to parents from out of town.

Belinda Campbell-Alexander, RN, Main Campus
Belinda is the ultimate team player in her role as a nurse coordinator for our Hematology and Vascular Anomalies teams. She often volunteers to help her teammates even if they cover different clinics. She is a problem solver who has a wealth of information to share for any need. Belinda has a wonderful, positive attitude that is contagious to all around her.

Darla Espinoza, RN, Main Campus
As the coordinator of Vascular Anomalies Center, Darla is the first contact patients have with our team at referral and remains their connection to the team for the rest of their journey. She manages to be a true champion for teamwork between all members of the team (physicians, medical assistants, physical and occupational therapists, social work, and others) while prioritizing patient/family needs and open communication. She is a leader of vascular anomalies coordinators at the international level, promoting quality improvement and adjustment of clinical flow and processes. From attention to detail, to the ability to keep an over-all perspective in a busy multidisciplinary center, Darla is most deserving of this award.

Bridges Kaminski, LCSW, West Campus 
Patients and their families truly appreciate and like working with Bridges. She is always ready and willing to help, oftentimes having anticipated the request and already taken care of it! With newly diagnosed oncology families her presence through the diagnostic talk process is very comforting. She is a great support to parents who are struggling with their child's new diagnosis. She is also always willing to go the extra mile for all of our patients. She steps up without being asked and is an irreplaceable member of our team. Bridges is described as "one of the most extraordinarily capable and caring social workers I have ever met. She has rapidly become indispensable in every way, and I cannot imagine caring for our patients without her. In truth, she is one of a kind."

John 'Jake' Lott, RN, Main Campus
Jake is an incredible leader on our inpatient units whose assistance with the rollout of the new CHEWS scoring system for recognition of sepsis has been invaluable. In the planning stages for CHEWS rollout, he was an important voice for nursing needs and led nursing education in preparation for our Go-Live date. He also helped identify nursing champions to serve as peer resources. Even though he works nights, he still found time to attend daytime meetings, multiple time a week, in preparation for this process. After Go-Live he continued his involvement by leading scoring audits to ensure accuracy and consistency. Implementation of the CHEWS system wouldn't have been near as successful without Jake's tireless efforts.

Martha Okonji, RN, Main Campus
Martha always has a positive attitude at work on our inpatient nursing units. She brings laughter to stressful situations to help peers day in and day out. She is constantly mentoring her co-workers, especially those who are new to the field. She is also always willing to assist with patient care needs, even outside her own assignment. Martha is both an excellent nurse and outstanding teacher.

Mauden 'Mabel' Ventura, Unit Clerical Assistant, Main Campus
Mabel is invaluable as a Unit Clerical Assistant on our inpatient floors by being proactive when she sees needs and doing anything she can to help meet those needs. She helps in any role—whether that's aiding our patient care assistants by fielding phone calls, bringing supplies and linens, updating patient charts or by serving as a runner for other needs. Mabel's kindness and willingness to help anyone in need are gifts she shares on a daily basis.

Please join us in congratulating these exemplary staff members the next time you see them.