Paramedic Colleen Shanney Receives Fauquier Health Mercy Award

Colleen Shanney is a clinical tech with the Fauquier Hospital Emergency Department and a paramedic with the Warrenton Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company.

Colleen helps out with Fauquier Hospital's Medical Camp for students.

Colleen Shanney, clinical technician in FauquierHospital’s Emergency Department, has received the 2015 Mercy Award for her service to Fauquier Hospital patients and the community.

The Mercy Award was established by LifePointHealth in 2002 to honor the life of Scott Mercy, LifePoint’s founding chairman and CEO. Mercy Award nominees consistently go beyond the call of duty in serving patients, co-workers and the community. They demonstrate a level of commitment and caring that transcends the everyday; respect the individual in everything they do, and inspire others with compassion, dedication and a merciful spirit.

Shanney was nominated by a co-worker with these words: “In addition to being an indispensable member of the Emergency Department team, Colleen is very active in the local community and dedicates an enormous amount of her time to public service. She has been a volunteer for the Red Cross and a volunteer firefighter and paramedic for the Warrenton Volunteer Fire Company for more than 15 years. In fact, it was this community service that inspired Colleen, when she was in her late 40s, to leave her career in finance to study to be a paramedic. She will tell you how much she liked helping people in the field and wanted to do more once she transferred their care to the hospital.

“Colleen leads by example on the front line of healthcare and her energy, enthusiasm and passion are infectious. Although she stands at just five feet tall, her presence is never missed. Colleen does not just do her work and go home; instead, her role at the hospital is an extension of her dedication and service to the community she calls home. You can’t help but want to do more, to be more, and to give back more when you are with Colleen.”

Dr. Michael Jenks, chairman of the Fauquier Hospital Emergency Department and medical director of the county’s Emergency Medical Services, said, “One of Colleen’s many strengths is the way she interacts with patients. She is a very strong, upbeat person and has a comfortable interaction style -- extroverted and positive. She can joke with patients who are in a hard situation, and has a way about her that helps them to relax. They appreciate her competence, her confidence and her lively sense of humor. Patients sense immediately that they are in good hands and trust her to take good care of them.

“Colleen approaches her EMS duties the same way she does everything else. She is very committed to the community and to her patients in the field. She loves teaching, volunteering her time to share her knowledge with others. As the medical director for EMS in the county, that matters to me. We need people that are committed to doing things right, and to teaching less experienced paramedics those lessons. Colleen has a lot of passion. In the ED, as well as on the EMS truck, she’s all in.”

Warrenton Fire Chief Samuel Myers weighed in about Shanney as well. “Colleen Shanney has been a member of our organization for over a decade and provides not only emergency medical services (EMS) to our community, but helps to oversee our operations and maintenance budget. She has been very involved with our EMS program, not only running emergency incidents to provide advanced life support, but she also ensures and helps with regular EMS training for our membership.”

William F. Carpenter III, LifePoint’s chairman and CEO, said, “The Mercy Award is the most important honor we recognize at LifePoint. It represents our culture and our mission of making communities healthier; it honors people, like Colleen, who go above and beyond to serve others.”

Shanney said, “I am overwhelmed and humbled to be receiving this award. People who know me know that I am rarely speechless, but when I found out I was nominated, I was. 

“I am blessed by my Maker to have been given the desire and ability to serve others. I am grateful for the support and love of my family, my firehouse family and my ED family in encouraging me to follow my passion and for being there for me when things get tough. This award is as much theirs as it is mine. Without each one of them, none of this would be possible. I love you all. Thank you.”

Each LifePoint hospital – including Fauquier Hospital – chooses a Mercy Award recipient. Awardees from all hospitals will be honored at a companywide ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee this summer, where a LifePoint-wide Mercy Award recipient will be announced.