Nascentia Health is proud to announce the recipient of the CNY Business Journal’s Outstanding Healthcare Executive award, Andrea Lazarek-LaQuay, as part of their 10th annual Excellence in Healthcare awards. Every year, the CNY Business Journal and presenting sponsor, Banker’s Healthcare Group, recognizes healthcare professionals who have made an impact in our community and work to develop innovative programs and services.

When most think of “frontline workers,” they imagine the doctors and nurses in full protective gear, working in hospitals, dealing with the life-or-death situations of COVID-19. However, frontline work goes beyond the hospitals with creating preventative measures and treatment options that can avoid hospitalization. Since the start of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, Andrea Lazarek-LaQuay, Nascentia’s chief clinical officer, and our community partners have worked tirelessly to improve testing and availability of vaccinations to those most at risk, our aging populations. Andrea led and managed the organization’s partnership with Onondaga County to staff COVID testing sites throughout the area for over a year and a half. She spearheaded the county’s first at-home vaccination program and worked to provide antibodies to elders critically ill with COVID, but not yet hospitalized. Since a vaccine has been available, Andrea and her team administered almost 2,000 vaccinations to homebound patients.

Andrea Lazarek-LaQuay, recipient of the Outstanding Healthcare Executive award, the evening of virtual award ceremony.

Andrea’s work and efforts have become a valuable resource for the community and her ahead-of-the-curve initiatives have made facing new healthcare challenges more manageable, especially during these uncertain times. As a registered nurse working in home care for over 25 years, Andrea’s passion for her work is apparent in every project she takes on. Andrea believes that “happiness is found along the way, not at the end of the road. Pursuing goals is important, but you must consciously choose to be in the moments of your life and find joy every day.”