Michael Maron, the president and chief executive of Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, N.J., is among three recipients of the 2012 Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton award. The award is the highest honor given by Support Our Aging Religious, SOAR!, an organization that raises and provides funds for congregations to meet the needs of retired members, raises public awareness and develops a network of individuals to help respond to the needs.
SOAR! chose Maron for his community service, earthquake relief work in Haiti, service to the church and "for carrying the charism of the founding congregation of Holy Name Medical Center," said Deborah Hudson Vornbrock, vice president of operations for SOAR!. Holy Name was founded and is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace.
With Maron's support, physicians and nurses at Holy Name led an effort to raise $125,000 to purchase an oxygen processor for the Hôpital Sacré Coeur in Milot, Haiti. Maron and his colleagues helped assemble the processor on-site.
Since then, Hôpital Sacré Coeur has been fiscally merged into Holy Name's foundation and is a partner in its operations, according to a recent article in Modern Healthcare.
SOAR! has awarded more than 1,000 grants totaling over $12 million to over 400 congregations and parishes. The organization accepts nominations for the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton award throughout the year from the Catholic community and chooses its honorees in May.
The awards are presented at fundraising galas in Washington, D.C., and New York City. Maron accepted the award in New York; siblings Fr. William D. Byrne and Sr. Deirdre Byrne, POSC, MD, received the award in Washington.
Past recipients include CHA President and Chief Executive Officer Sr. Carol Keehan, DC; Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and archbishop of New York; and Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C.