Celebrating the IHA Hospital Hero Award for 2021 Tuesday were, from left, DCH Chief Information Officer Jake Wendler, DCH Chief Clinical Officer Cindy Peeler, Emily Ash, Allison Ash, award-winning DCH Medical Director Dr. Eric Ash, DCH Chief Executive Officer Angela Mortoza, Kim Ash and DCH Family Medicine Clinic Director Debbie Miner.
Dr. Eric Ash, medical director of the Dallas County Hospital and Family Medicine Clinics, received the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA) Hospital Hero Award for 2021 Tuesday afternoon.
Ash was formally presented with the award by Dallas County Hospital CEO Angela Mortoza in a brief ceremony, followed by a reception.
“Dr. Ash has shown exceptional commitment to caring,” Mortoza said. “In a moment of need or with his distinguished career, he has given of his time, talent and expertise to improve Dallas County Hospital and Family Medicine Clinics. He has healed his patients, and he has served our community well. He has become a role model for all of us, and it is a well-deserved award to him.”
Receiving the award, Ash, a family-medicine specialist at the DCH since 1998, said the honor came to him as “kind of a shock” after the pandemic year of 2020, which was “a nightmare for all of us.”
The graduate of the University of Iowa College of Medicine accepted the thanks of his colleagues and graciously returned it to them.
“We feel weak at times,” he said, “but if we work together, we can do it.”
The IHA has celebrated since 2007 those employees who have acted courageously in a crisis or who have selflessly served their hospitals and communities throughout their careers with the Hospital Hero Awards. Last year the IHA recognized all hospital employees for their heroic efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic and in response to the derecho windstorm of August 2020.
