RNAO announces winners of 2010 Awards for Excellence in Health-Care Reporting

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is pleased to announce the recipients of this year's Awards for Excellence in Health-Care Reporting.

Winners were chosen from 44 entries and winning submissions represent large and small media outlets. They include The Globe and Mail, CBC Radio, Global Television and The Oakville Beaver. The awards will be presented during the President's Banquet at RNAO's annual general meeting in Toronto on Friday, April 16.

The winners of the 2010 Awards for Excellence in Health-Care Reporting are:

- Laurie Fagan of CBC Radio Ottawa wins the best in-depth feature, radio award for a series that explored issues related to the H1N1 outbreak. - The team at 570 News in Kitchener wins the best radio news story category for its coverage of H1N1 clinics in Waterloo Region. - Global Television's Beatrice Politi receives two awards this year. Her special on the one per cent of people who develop serious complications from the H1N1 virus won for best in-depth feature in television, while her story about a new surgical technique that enables some people with spinal cord injuries to walk again won for best television news story. - Elizabeth Howell of The Globe and Mail captures best in-depth feature in a daily newspaper for her article about a 10-year-old girl living with CHARGE Syndrome, a rare illness that occurs when tissues in the heart, kidneys and other areas don't develop fully in the womb. - Denise Davy, a reporter at The Hamilton Spectator, receives the daily newspaper, best series award for her stories on the crisis in children's mental health services in Canada. - The Oakville Beaver receives two awards this year. Angela Blackburn wins the community newspaper, best in-depth feature category, for her story about a 92-year old Oakville man waiting for a space to become available at a long-term care home in his community. Tina Depko's article on the first H1N1 vaccination clinic in Halton Region captures best news story. - Mike Adler and Lisa Queen of the The Scarborough Mirror win best series for their stories about issues at a Scarborough nursing home and the state of long-term care across the province. - Marcia Kaye, Today's Parent Magazine, for best magazine story for her article on the political and economic realities of Canada's cord blood system. - Melanie Anderson, a second-year student in the University of Western Ontario/Fanshawe College Collaborative Media program wins the student journalism category for a radio documentary on the need for a nationally-coordinated system for organ and tissue donation and transplantation. The documentary was broadcast on 106.9 CIXX FM in London.

"As an organization that speaks out for health, health care and the nursing profession, we are proud to confer these awards, recognizing excellence in health reporting," says RNAO President Wendy Fucile. "These journalists have excelled at showing the impact that health and health care have on the public and health professionals in Ontario."

"H1N1 dominated the news in 2009 and a number of the awards recognize outstanding media coverage of various aspects of the pandemic," adds Doris Grinspun, Executive Director of RNAO. "The awards also honour journalists who explored topics that don't always receive the attention they deserve, such as long-term care and children's mental health. All the winners have succeeded in giving the public an insider's look at health issues and the health-care system."