Every winter since 2015, members of Central City Concern’s Health Services Advisory Council (HSAC) have gotten together to choose a deserving recipient for the Sandy Anderson Award. The award is a heartfelt recognition given by the group to a CCC staff member who:
- Is always person-centered in their interactions with consumers.
- Puts the needs and goals of consumers first.
- Listens deeply and sees and hears beyond how people might seem on the surface.
- Is collaborative and solves problems with us instead of for us.
- Keeps long-term care goals in mind while also meeting people where they are.
- Can instill hope, no matter what.
This year, HSAC bestowed the award to Leslie Tallyn, CCC’s director of quality. Leslie has been the lead staff member attending HSAC meetings since 2013, walking alongside the group through many changes and new faces within both HSAC and at CCC.
“I’m humbled and deeply touched to receive this award. I admire the other Sandy Anderson Award recipients so much, and being in their company is an honor,” Leslie said.
According to HSAC members, Leslie has been the ideal bridge between CCC’s health care consumers and CCC’s services. With a deep understanding that CCC can only improve our services by acknowledging and responding to our clients’ whole experiences, Leslie has encouraged transparency and honesty. As someone who is deeply embedded in our clinic operations, she is perhaps one of the most knowledgeable people at CCC about why we do things the way we do them. And according to HSAC members, there’s no one better at explaining that in terms that all HSAC members can understand.
Leslie doesn’t just take in what she hears. HSAC members commend her for being incredibly proactive about following up on topics that come up during meetings and sharing how clinic staff received and responded to their feedback.
Above all, HSAC shares, Leslie is kind and thoughtful, and she truly listens. For six years, they’ve trusted her to pave the road for consumer-driven changes and improvements. As a clinic that serves a patient population familiar with feeling marginalized or ill-served by the mainstream health care system, finding someone like Leslie — a genuine listener, a supportive advocate and trustworthy collaborator — is worth celebrating.
“Our HSAC members volunteer their time to help improve the quality of care we provide and the experiences of the people we serve,” Leslie shared. “Centering the experiences and voices of consumers is vital to our mission, and I’m grateful to have had the privilege of supporting our HSAC members’ service to CCC over the past six years.”
The list of previous CCC awardees reveals the high honor and regard in which they hold all Sandy Anderson awardees. Sandy Anderson, was CCC’s first pharmacist who became a beacon of kindness and compassion to thousands of OTC patients. She was the first to receive the award named for her; other recipients include Carol Weber, a care team manager who has served our patients for more than 15 years and Old Town Recovery Center psychiatrist Phil Shapiro, whose counseling and guidance around healing has changed countless lives.
There’s no doubt that Leslie fits right in to such esteemed company.
