27 “I CARE” awards in one year

Marc Robinson is a physician assistant working in primary care at a VA outpatient clinic in Cadillac, Michigan. In a single calendar year, he was recognized by Veterans, caregivers and coworkers with 27 "I CARE" awards.

I CARE awards recognize VA employees who have gone above and beyond in their role to care for Veterans, families, caregivers, survivors or fellow employees by exhibiting VA's Core Values of Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect and Excellence.

"I CARE awards are special because they reflect not only great care that we give to Veterans but that the Veterans recognize the great care," Robinson said. "I don't think we hear enough from Veterans who are happy with the great care we provide. I tell my Veterans in their initial visit that I wouldn't be a care provider at VA if the care wasn't superior."

Robinson is an Air Force Veteran and has also been honored with certificates of appreciation, high reliability organization awards and a local ceremony to thank him and his team for providing crucial assistance during a medical emergency.

Pictured above are Robinson, nurse Sally Ingraham, medical support assistant Janet Rauch and licensed practical nurse Ron Chadwick, from the patient aligned care team.

"Every ICARE write-up is special and meaningful to me, but the ones that recognize the entire team and mental health, specialty care and community care really stand out," he shared.

"Recently, we had a Veteran who had been treated poorly upon return to the U.S. from Vietnam. He had several physical and mental health issues and we were able to get a good plan of care established for him. He wrote that the, 'Entire team was very professional… and made me feel at ease.' He put in separate ICAREs for each person that was involved on his initial visit here. That was a win for the entire team and for VA. We get a fair number of walk-in patients and some of them are from out of the region. We get a relatively high number of acute [and] potentially life-threatening medical emergencies in the clinic due to our proximity to the freeway and the local summer vacation hotspots in northern Michigan."

Cadillac is a rural town of about 10,000 people with about one million visitors each year who enjoy fishing, boating, hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, hunting and golfing.

"I feel strongly that taking care of my brothers and sisters is my calling in medicine. I worked through neurosurgery, trauma, medical-surgical acute care, emergency department and Intensive Care Unit positions before I got to my primary care position. We are blessed to have a great team here in Cadillac, [with] so many great nurses, medical support assistants, audiology and mental health providers."

Robinson also serves as the education coordinator for physician assistants.