OCEANSIDE — Tri-City Medical Center earned more than two dozen local and regional awards and honors last month for its work in robotic surgery, COVID-19 pandemic response and community outreach.
Most recently, the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce named the hospital Business of the Year in the large company category at the 2022 CBAD Awards — the hospitals’ second CBAD award in three years.
Tri-City Medical Center was recognized for its innovations in robotic surgery, a department which has helped the hospital win awards in the past as well. In 2020, the hospital’s robotic spine program led to the hospital being named as one of America’s 100 Best Hospitals for spine surgery.
The recent Carlsbad Chamber’s award also recognized the hospital for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its upcoming development projects that include a remodeled emergency room, a new 3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) suite and construction of a 16-bed, adult inpatient psychiatric facility in partnership with the county.
The CBAD Awards also recognized Tri-City for its community outreach initiatives like its COASTAL Commitment, which stands for Community Outreach and Support Through Active Leadership.
The commitment partners the hospital with more than 80 nonprofit organizations working together to address the region’s healthcare access and social needs.
One project to come through the COASTAL Commitment is the Student Opportunities for Career Awareness and Learning, or SOCAL, a workforce development program meant to inspire and train more professionals across emerging industries. The hospital has teamed up with local businesses and educators to make this program possible.
Earlier in May, Tri-City earned 23 trophies including the Best in Show Award at the Health Care Communicators of Southern California’s Finest Awards. Of those trophies, eight were gold, nine were silver and five were bronze awards, all of which were centered around the hospital’s brand campaigns and communication and design projects.
“Best in Show is the highest scoring submission in the whole competition,” explained Aaron Byzak, chief external affairs officer at Tri-City.
The hospital earned that particular award for its Heroes Live Here campaign, which highlights the people who work in the hospital saving lives every day. As part of the campaign, Byzak and his communication team took photos of hospital staff and turned them into posters highlighting who they are and what vital roles they serve in the hospital.
“The whole point of the campaign was to lean into the amazing people who call Tri-City home,” Byzak said. “The truth is that we’re one, big family and we spend a healthy portion of our lives here.”
Byzak also noted that many of the people who work at Tri-City also call the communities the hospital serves – mainly Carlsbad, Oceanside and Vista – home as well.
“The pandemic elevated the public’s awareness of the heroes who have answered the call to care for others,” Byzak said. “These projects allowed us to honor them and the communities we serve.”
Tri-City also won awards for its 60th anniversary campaign throughout 2021. Through this campaign, the hospital installed several “Pockets of Awesome,” which Byzak explained are “vibrant and educational” art installations placed throughout the facility.
“These installations turn parts of an otherwise mundane-looking hospital into pockets of visually awesome, stunning, and educational places,” Byzak said.
The Finest Awards is an annual event held by the Health Care Communicators of Southern California organization. Last year, Tri-City took home 19 awards which also included Best in Show as well.
