Healthcare Legacy Dinner Honors Physician, Nurse

DELAND, Fla., May 5, 2016 On April 21, Florida Hospital DeLand, along with more than 200 community members, honored emergency medicine physician Dr. Stephen S. Knight and Florida Hospital DeLand registered nurse Gloria Denston for their significant contributions to the health and well-being of the community at the ninth annual Healthcare Legacy Dinner Blue Flame Awards at the Wayne G. Sanborn Activity Center.

The Legacy Dinner is one of our favorite events we do each year. The Blue Flame Awards are given to healthcare providers in our community whose service to their patients and our community is exemplary, said Maureen Mercho, Florida Hospital DeLand Foundation director. We give the Blue Flame Award, because as the hottest part of the flame, it ignites the rest of the fire. We believe that our recipients do just that in our community.

Knight has been an emergency medicine physician in the community for more than 30 years and Denston has served on Florida Hospital DeLand's nursing staff at for more than 40 years.

In addition to their unique and personal approach to caring for their patients, Dr. Knight and Gloria are both passionate about the communities they serve, Mercho said. Dr. Knight has been a strong advocate of bicycle safety and is known to either be on health mission trips to Honduras or in the midst of organizing one. Gloria has served as the president of the DeLand Noon Rotary and has been a member for many years. Through her work with the Rotary, she has lead and participated in numerous community fundraisers both at home at abroad.

Proceeds from this event support Florida Hospital DeLand's community programs and the hospitals nursing education fund which is available to the more than 230 nurses on staff at the hospital.

Being able to support our nurses in their pursuit of continuing and higher education will only strengthen our hospitals ability to extend the healing ministry of Christ, said Mercho.

About Florida Hospital DeLand

Florida Hospital DeLand is a member of Adventist Health System, a faith-based health care organization with 46 hospital campuses and nearly 8,200 licensed beds in 10 states. With 156-beds, Florida Hospital DeLand is one of the six Florida Hospitals in Volusia and Flagler counties that composes the Florida Hospital East Florida Region. As the largest hospital system in the area, the Florida Hospital East Florida Region has 899 beds and nearly 5,900 employees. With a mission to extend the healing ministry of Christ, the Florida Hospital East Florida Region collectively contributed nearly $120 million in benefits in 2015 to the underprivileged, the community's overall health and wellness and spiritual needs, and capital improvements.