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The Distinguished Nursing Alumna Award, formerly known as the Lloydena Grimes Award for Nursing Excellence, recognizes Good Samaritan School of Nursing or Â鶹Çø Good Samaritan School of Nursing alumni who have exhibited outstanding dedication, leadership, scholarship and service in the nursing profession.

This year’s recipient is Kathy (Anderson) Schach ’72.

The person who nominated Kathy referred to her as, “the hardest working, most caring nurse I know.” During the many years she spent as an ICU nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital (now Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center) in Portland, Kathy was known for going out of her way to help new nurses and to provide support to anyone who could use it.

Colleagues says she was a consummate nurse, excelling in terms of technical skills but also putting others ahead of herself. They describe her as empathetic, a strong communicator, an excellent problem-solver and a lifelong learner.

For many years, Kathy offered to meet the groups holding reunions to give them tours of Good Sam Hospital. This year, she is coordinating her own Good Samaritan School of Nursing class’s 50-year reunion.

When you want something done, she jokes, ask a nurse.