A dozen M Health Fairview staff recognized as 2022 "Health Care Heroes"
Twelve people from across M Health Fairview and M Physicians have been recognized as 2022 Health Care Heroes by Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal.
The magazine launched its Health Care Heroes awards in 2021 to honor healthcare workers’ remarkable efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. It recognizes individuals who are improving the health of our communities through their dedication, innovation, and compassion. Honorees were chosen across 10 different categories, ranging from Innovator to Health Care Executive to Health Equity Champion.
Our 2022 honorees include:
- Oren Avery, MHA, Senior Clinic Manager
- Greg Beilman, MD, Professor of Surgery and Associate Dean for Clinical Administration, University of Minnesota Medical School; Senior Vice President of Acute Care Operations
- Beth Heinz, MSW, MHA, Executive, Mental Health and Addiction Service Line, Women’s and Children’s Service Line
- Nawal Hirsi, Community Engagement Manager
- Thea Kogler, CMPA, NRP, Community Paramedic
- Danilo Lovinaria, DNP, MBA, APRN, CRNA, FNAP, FAANA, Nurse Anesthetist
- Mohamed Jama Mohamed, RN, Operating Room Nurse
- Paul Orchard, MD, Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Physician
- Francisco Ramirez, Supervisor of Education and Outreach
- Mark Spitzack, Coordinator of Pediatric Support Projects
- Demetri Yannopoulos, MD, Cardiologist
- Lewis Zeidner, PhD, System Director of Triage and Transition Services
Scroll down to learn more about each winner, their award, and their exceptional dedication to improving the health of our community.
Oren Avery, MHA
Senior Clinic Manager
Category: Healthcare Staff Member – Nonclinical
As the senior clinic manager at the M Physicians Broadway Family Medicine Clinic in North Minneapolis, Oren Avery, MHA, has for years played a vital role supporting clinic patients while lifting up the community. In 2021, he helped lead the reopening of the clinic in a new neighborhood location, ensuring that the new facility reflected its community at every level. He is also a champion of food access programs, blood drives for patients with sickle cell anemia, and other programs addressing health disparities in Minnesota.
Greg Beilman, MD
Professor of Surgery and Associate Dean for Clinical Administration, University of Minnesota Medical School; Senior Vice President of Acute Care Operations
Category: Physician – Health System-Based
A retired colonel in the Army Reserves with five military deployments including Iraq and Afghanistan, Greg Beilman, MD, helped lead the statewide response to the COVID-19 pandemic, serving in an incident command center for our health system while playing a critical role in the conversion of Bethesda Hospital into Minnesota’s first and only dedicated COVID-19 hospital. Beilman also serves as a professor of surgery and an associate dean at the University of Minnesota Medical School and is the leader of the new Translational Center for Resuscitative Trauma Care.
Beth Heinz, MSW, MHA
Executive, Mental Health and Addiction Service Line; Executive, Women’s and Children’s Service Line
Category: Healthcare Executive – Health System-Based (awarded with Lew Zeidner)
In the last 20 years, emergency department visits within our health system by adults in mental health and addiction crisis have increased by nearly 41 percent, and 57 percent for children. Beth Heinz, who has an extensive background in social work, transformed the way we treat mental health emergencies in our system by helping develop EmPATH. EmPATH is an innovative, patient-centered care model that provides rapid access to a team of mental health experts in a calming, living room-like setting.
Nawal Hirsi
Community Engagement Manager
Category: Health Equity Champion
Nawal Hirsi has worked diligently to reduce health disparities and improve the health and wellbeing of those living in Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. She leads the efforts to provide free, culturally sensitive healthcare and wellbeing services at Health Commons. A drop-in health and wellness center, Health Commons serves the diverse and underserved East African population living in the Riverside Plaza housing complex. Nawal understands the culture of the East African community and speaks the language, so she is seen as a trusted contact. She works hard to build relationships and collaborations to remove barriers and best meet the health needs of those living in the neighborhood.
Thea Kogler, CMPA, NRP
Community Paramedic
Category:First Responder
Thea Kogler used to be a street paramedic, and she always thought: “If I just had time to talk with the patients, I could really help them and prevent that ER visit.” She put that thought into action and became a community paramedic with M Health Fairview. In her role, she brings care directly to people in their homes who face barriers – chronic health issues, age, lack of transportation, etc. – to healthcare access. Her goal is to care for those in the community who are not served well through a traditional primary care model and to empower them to take control of their health.
Danilo Lovinaria, DNP, MBA, APRN, CRNA, FNAP, FAANA
Nurse AnesthetistCategory: Healthcare Practitioner – Nonphysician
Dan Lovinaria has been a tireless advocate for diversity and inclusivity during his three decades in nursing and nurse anesthesia. As a leader and educator in the Diversity in Nurse Anesthesia Mentorship Program, he has helped hundreds of BIPOC nursing students receive an education and graduate from nurse anesthesia programs nationwide.In 2021, Lovinaria co-founded the national diversity organization Council of Diversity and Inclusivity in Healthcare (CDIH). CDIH’s mission is to advocate for a diverse and inclusive workforce. Among many other achievements, Lovinaria in 2021 became the first and only CRNA from Minnesota inducted as a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology.
Mohamed Jama Mohamed, RN
Operating Room NurseCategory: Healthcare Practitioner – Nonphysician
Mohamed Jama Mohamed suffered third-degree burns while fleeing the Somali Civil War, and his treatment at a Kenyan hospital inspired him to a career in nursing. Mohamed helps improve our patients’ experience every day through his caring nature. He connects with the Somali community and provides a source of comfort to everyone during a difficult time. Mohamed also founded the nonprofit Healthcare Extension Promotion and Training Organization (HEPTO) to provide medical supplies and training in East Africa. Mohamed’s colleagues have become involved in his nonprofit work. In an incredibly difficult time for healthcare workers, Mohamed’s dedication provides a global sense of purpose and community.
Paul Orchard, MD
Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant PhysicianCategory: Innovator
Paul Orchard, MD, and his team made history on Sept. 27, 2021, when four-year-old Celia Grace Hamlett became the first person in the United States to receive life-saving gene therapy for metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a rare and often fatal genetic disease. In the midst of a pandemic, Orchard and his team at M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital performed the groundbreaking procedure after working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to get it approved. Together, the Hamlett family and Orchard have helped pave the way for this life-saving treatment in the United States.
Francisco Ramirez
Supervisor of Education and Outreach
Category: Health Equity Champion
Believing that health equity work must be rooted in community, Francisco Ramirez shares health education through numerous channels, from the Consulate of Mexico in St. Paul to weekly radio shows on La Nueva Joya to the pulpit of Prince of Peace church in Burnsville. His tireless work with various organizations and programs, including M Health Fairview's MINI clinic program and colon cancer preventative program, means that thousands of people have learned about the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine and other preventative health measures. Much of his work in 2021 centered around vaccine outreach among the Latinx community, which is among those disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Mark Spitzack
Coordinator of Perinatal & Pediatric Support Projects
Category: Healthcare Staff Member – Nonclinical
Mark Spitzack started his professional life as a choir director and organist, a passion he continues alongside a long and impactful career at M Health Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital. Occasionally, the families under our care experience profound grief and loss.Spitzack supports families during those difficult moments as the leader of our hospital’s Pediatric Bereavement Follow-Up Project. Spitzack also helped set up mother’s milk donation depots at four M Health Fairview hospitals for collection and redistribution to families in need.
Demetri Yannopoulos, MD
Cardiologist
Category: Physician- Health System Based
In 2021, Demetri Yannopoulos, MD, led an effort in partnership with the Minnesota Mobile Resuscitation Consortium to launch a first-of-its-kind emergency medical truck equipped with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) devices to help people experiencing cardiac arrest who need rapid emergency life support. Staffed by an experienced medical team, the vehicle is arrives on scene quickly, reducing response times in a medical emergency when every minute counts. It then acts as a critical bridge between home and hospital – improving survival rates.
Lewis Zeidner, PhD
System Director of Clinical Triage and Transition
Category: Healthcare Executive – Health System-Based (awarded with Beth Heinz)
Lewis P. Zeidner, PhD, has been witness to the growing problem of access to mental health services. In 2021, under his leadership, M Health Fairview became the first health system in Minnesota to open an EmPATH unit at Southdale Hospital. EmPATH – short for Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, and Healing – is a specialized unit connected to the emergency department designed for people experiencing a mental health crisis. Our EmPATH care team has been able to help patients stabilize and return to their homes, families, and jobs without needing to be hospitalized.
