Hall of Excellence

Posted September 2022   

FHEA Member Highlight - Russ Schilling

​Retirement, for those of us fortunate enough to get there, is both a big step and a proud moment. As a healthcare engineering leader, it is the culmination of all the projects completed, departments managed, relationships formed, people mentored, and patients treated because a mission-oriented leader got the job done.  Retirement is even more meaningful when you have had a career like that of FHEA’s State Treasurer, Russ Schilling.

Russ’s healthcare career spans 35 years and he has served in leadership roles for the last 34 of those years. He started working in clinical engineering back when it was called “biomed” before utilizing some of that same skillset to transition into the field of facilities management. Those that know Russ won’t be surprised to know he quickly gained a reputation as an honest and reliable person and was promoted to his first facilities director position in 1994. This is the same year that Russ recognized the value and resources that the Florida Healthcare Engineering Association can provide to healthcare engineering leaders and he became a member. The organization only had 66 active members at the time.​ 

Russ Schilling has been and continues to be a loyal servant of the FHEA and its members. He was first elected to the position of district president in 2001 before being elected state vice president in 2002 and state president in 2003. Russ returned to the role of district president again in 2012 before being asked to serve as the state treasurer in 2013. The state treasurer is a position that is expected to be held for multiple years in order to ensure continuity and guidance and Russ still holds this position today. He served with such integrity that his peers were inspired to select him as the FHEA State Engineer of the Year in 2017. Russ’s experience continues to be valuable at every meeting as he can impart specific knowledge of the FHEA history that helps with the board’s decision making today.

As the saying goes, “all good things must come to an end” and Russ is bringing his tenure with FHEA and our profession to an end so he can enjoy a well-deserved retirement. Russ will soon fill his days with airboats, sunsets, and gator hunting instead of water leaks, power outages, and everything else that can go wrong in a hospital. We wish him well in all of his new endeavors. Thank you Russ for a lifetime of service to the field of healthcare engineering and the Florida Healthcare Engineering Association.      

Posted July 2022

FHEA Member Highlight - Mike Malone

 

​​Mike was invited by a group of FHEA members that included Ron Willemsen, FHEA’s 18th president - 1979-80, who was facility director at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, for the purpose of sharing his experience with other associations that held meetings that included trade shows. He discussed how FHEA might start one and described the benefits he saw for both the facility managers/owners and the companies offering products and services that supported the facilities. With this knowledge and encouragement began the very earliest events where vendors had a presence at FHEA state meetings.  Before dedicated space was reserved at the meeting venue for exhibitors’ tabletops or booths, these earliest displays were no more than a small handful of vendors whose reserved hotel rooms were located close together on the same floor, placing tables with their small displays outside their rooms for FHEA meeting attendees to visit -- visit and connect, and perhaps share a beer that Mike supplied from a cooler. Humble, but it worked, and grew from there!

​​From then on, Mike and Industrial Engineering would be seen at every spring and fall FHEA meeting as an exhibitor but also as the quiet congenial host of the Industrial Engineering Hospitality Suite that became a fixture at these meetings.  All were welcome with the caveat that its purpose was to provide a place for the healthcare engineers to unwind and socialize after the day’s meeting. It’s been heard that Mike feels this was one of the best things he ever did and made him the happiest, providing an environment that allowed friendships and relationships to grow among FHEA members that served to strengthen the association. The FHEA thanks Mike Malone for his long years contributing to the association both professionally, and as a remarkable friend.   

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Congratulations to DebonAir on their 30th Anniversary!

(Thanks to John O’Connell for the poster).  

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2023 STATE AWARDS

Engineer of the Year
Tony Echazabal CHFM, CHSP, CHE
Cleveland Clinic Florida

District III

Supporting Member of the Year
Alex Cartier
National Firestopping Solutions

District III

2022 STATE AWARDS

Engineer of the Year
Tim Moreira, CHFM, CHSP, CHC, CHE
AdventHealth North Pinellas

District III

Supporting Member of the Year
Tina Stanisci
Chapuis Design Group

District III

2021 STATE AWARDS

Engineer of the Year
John O'Connell, CHFM, CHE, CHC, CHSP
Broward Health Coral Springs

District IV

Supporting Member of the Year
Tracey Gallentine
McKim & Creed, Daytona Beach

District II

2020 STATE AWARDS

Engineer of the Year
Adam Mayle
Memorial Healthcare System, Hollywood
District IV

Supporting Member of the Year
Nancy Garrido
DebonAir Mechanical, Miami Lakes

District IV

2019 STATE AWARDS

Engineer of the Year
Kevin Daniel, CHE, CHFM
Jackson Hospital, Mariana

District I

Supporting Member of the Year
Richard A. Dandrow
Phigenics LLC

2018 STATE AWARDS

Engineer of the Year
Bobby Baird, SASHE, CHE, CHFM, CHSP, CHC
UF Health Shands, Gainesville

District II

Supporting Member of the Year
Cathy Uresti
Anchor Floor & Supply Co.

2017 STATE AWARDS

Engineer of the Year
Russ Schilling, CHE
Memorial Hospital, Pembroke
District IV

Supporting Member of the Year
Norma Lopez
Remediation Specialists

2016 STATE AWARDS

Engineer of the Year
Luis Rodriguez, CHE
District IV

Supporting Member of the Year
Lily Salkoff