Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center has been honored with the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) 2025 Lantern Award. This award acknowledges the center’s excellence in incorporating evidence-based practice and innovation within its adult emergency department.
The ENA Lantern Award is given to emergency departments that showcase exceptional practices and innovative performance in nursing leadership, practice, education, advocacy, and research.
The award recognized several key practices at Hampden Medical Center, including enhancing the shared governance system, creating an effective nurse staffing plan, improving collaboration between the Emergency Department and inpatient units, addressing patient experience issues, and introducing a Pivot Nurse for initial assessments.
Kyle Snyder, president of Hampden and Holy Spirit medical centers, stated: “The award demonstrates our team’s commitment to continuous patient care improvement, collaboration and a culture of respect and high standards.” He expressed pride in the leaders and staff for fostering an environment that promotes safe and efficient patient-centered care.
In 2024, Hampden Medical Center’s Emergency Department treated nearly 28,000 patients. Leslyn Williamson, regional chief operating officer and chief nursing officer commented: “This is a great honor… The ENA award reminds us that to be exceptional in health care, our nursing team must own every aspect of the care delivery.”
The Lantern Award will be formally presented at the ENA national conference in mid-September. Named after Florence Nightingale for her contributions to modern nursing, the award is granted for three years.
Founded in 1970 with 50,000 members worldwide, ENA advocates for patient safety by developing practice standards and guidelines while guiding public policy on emergency healthcare.
