New Achievements

A Leading Voice in Loma Linda

The American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) Young Professional Voice award focuses on those individuals who exhibit significant potential as leaders in healthcare. The award recognizes those who demonstrate exemplary leadership within their organization, involvement with their community, and display leadership for the nursing profession. These individuals not only hold a position as a leader, but embody innovation, influence, and inclusion. The AONL Young Professional Voice award is quite exclusive, given to only twenty nurses across the country every year. This award is not only prestigious, but in testament to the name of the award, it provides a platform for all the recipients to discuss challenges they face and innovative solutions they found in their organizations. Some awardees are from academia, while most are from healthcare settings.

This year, one of those recipients was one of our nursing leaders, Allison Ong, DNP, RN, NE-BC, CCRN-K, assistant vice president of Clinical Operations & Space Management and executive director of Patient Placement for Loma Linda University Medical Center. Allison was not only a leader for patient throughput during COVID-19 but was also the leader for the Campus Transformation Project, which involved the opening of the new

16-story medical center and the nine-story children’s hospital for Loma Linda University Health. Senior Vice President of Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer, Helen Staples-Evans, DNP, RN, NE-BC, notified Allison that she was being nominated, and shortly afterwards, Allison received notification from AONL that she was selected as a recipient.

“I feel incredibly fortunate to have Allison on our leadership team and am so thankful to have her intellect, character, and work ethic applied to our team and work at Loma Linda University Health. Allison has used her voice as a leader to effectively support both our staff and patients, and we look forward to continuing to work alongside her in our shared commitment to our organization’s mission,” said Helen.

When asked about what the award meant to her, Allison answered, “It is an honor to be selected as an AONL Young Professional Voice award recipient. There have been countless people who have helped guide, coach and mentor me throughout my leadership journey. This award recognizes those people and their commitment to nursing, patients, and the success of young people.”