Announcing the 2023 Maya Rimal Safety Hero

In 2011, Maya Rimal was a patient at Primary Children’s Hospital who died while in our care following a series of avoidable safety errors. Maya would have turned 27 years old this year.

After her passing, Maya's parents, Sofi and Satish Rimal, partnered with Primary Children’s to renew and strengthen our culture of safety and pursue our goal of zero harm.

Each year, the Rimal family joins Primary Children's leaders and the Zero Harm team to pay tribute to Maya and honor Primary Children's caregivers who have helped improve safety through process improvement, an impact on culture, or a lifesaving good catch.

Satish and Sofi Rimal

Zero Harm Leadership: Back row: Amanda Choudhary, David Pascoe, Satish Rimal, Dustin Lipson, Brady Silva, Irene Kocolas, MD Front Row: Karen Talbot, Katy Welkie, Sofi Rimal

This year, finalists for the Maya Rimal Safety Hero award included:

• Andrea Harman, MRI Tech & Celeste Kelty, RN Coordinator, Imaging & Child Procedure Center
• Ashlee Bell, NP, Dr. Eric Scaife, and Dr. Robin Ohls, Neonatology
• Sarah Hokanson, RN & Allison Oki, MD, Rehab Medicine & Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 
• Sarah Smith, Occupational Therapist & Keegan Granger, Physical Therapist, Acute Care Therapy Services
• Spencer Mangum, MD, Hematology/Oncology
• Stephanie Hooker, OR Technician Operating Room
• Tyler Rodeback, RN & Alexandria White, NP, Emergency Department 
  
   

The three top nominees for the 2023 Maya Rimal Safety Hero Award were:

• Scott Clements, MD, Diabetes and Endocrinology
• Jacqueline Arbanas, RN, Outpatient Cardiology
• Alexi Abbott, Imaging

Watch the safety hero stories of our honorees:

Alexi Abbott, Imaging - Safety Hero Story

Scott Clements, MD, Diabet and Endocrinology - Safety Hero Story

Jacqueline Arbananas, RN, Outpatient Cardiology - Safety Hero Story  

Satish Rimal and Jacqueline Arbanas

Satish Rimal presented the 2023 Maya Rimal Safety Hero Award to Jacqueline Arbanas. Had her patient been allowed to stay asleep that night, he likely would not have woken up, or would have significant irreversible neurologic damage. His parents credit Jackie for saving his life. Karen Talbot, with Primary Children's Zero Harm team, said caregivers should all remember Jackie's words: "If [a patient's] Mom or Dad are telling you something is wrong, listen. They are right 99% of the time."

Brady Silva, Zero Harm Coordinator, added that Jackie is so safety-oriented that while filming her award video she noticed a potential medication error for another patient and immediately stopped what she was doing to resolve, in accordance with Zero Harm best practice. 

Jacqueline requested her team share the recognition: "Tiffany Tuttle RN, who let me know parents had called, Dr. Lindsay May, who I spoke with multiple times and is the MD over the anticoagulation program, Dr. Dongngan Truong, the patient's primary cardiologist and Dr. Carly Heyrand, our anticoagulation team pharmacist and the one who nominated me. It really took a team to save this child, and each played an important part."

Submit a nomination for the 2024 Maya Rimal Safety Award here.