A Russellville Hospital nurse was one of five area health care professionals honored last week by the North Alabama Regional Council of the Alabama Hospital Association (AlaHA).

Belinda Wimberley has been employed with Russellville Hospital for 17 years, serving as a registered nurse and an ICU charge nurse. Her duties include helping maintain the ICU and performing reviews to ensure that excellent care is being given to every patient.

Her fellow employees have often commented on how much they admire her leadership, compassion and dedication. They tell of how she gladly takes on the responsibility of being a resource and team leader for her co-workers and how she has made a personal commitment to making a positive difference in her patient’s lives. According to one of her co-workers, “Belinda will be the first one to assist her patients and family with medical, emotional, and their spiritual needs while never missing an assignment.”

In addition to her contributions to Russellville Hospital, Wimberley has also made time to give back to her community. She is a volunteer with Relay for Life and has organized bake sales, yard sales and other events to raise awareness and support of the fight against cancer.

A Phil Campbell resident, Wimberley worked countless hours providing support, meals, clothing and places to rest to those in need following the April 27, 2011 tornado.

She was honored at a luncheon in Decatur last week.

The luncheon is one of seven regional awards presentations being held as part of AlaHA’s 10th annual statewide “Hospital Hero” award contest, which recognizes the value of health careers and honors hospital employees who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to the health care field. The contest will culminate with a banquet in February where up to 10 of the regional winners will be honored as statewide Hospital Heroes. One statewide Hospital Physician Hero will also be recognized in February.

“AlaHA is honored to recognize those outstanding caregivers who go above and beyond the call of duty to help their co-workers and to make their patients feel special,” said J. Michael Horsley, FACHE, president of the Alabama Hospital Association.

“These amazing individuals deserve to be called heroes not only because they are an inspiration to their colleagues, but also because they have raised the bar in terms of what it means to provide exceptional patient care.”

Other North Alabama-area Hospital Hero honorees include: Debbie Clark, patient/family representative, Huntsville Hospital; Dan Jackson, RT(R), director of diagnostic imaging, Helen Keller Hospital; Stephanie Rice, LPN, RN, IV therapy/bed access nurse, Crestwood Medical Center; Chad Thrower, RN, robotics coordinator, Crestwood Medical Center. The Hospital Hero Physician Honoree is Jeremy V. Stidham, MD, chair of the medicine department and chief of internal medicine, Cullman Regional Medical Center.