Miami, Florida, August 6, 2007 – Her co-workers describe Michelle Tiernan, MA, as “a warm blanket of friendship” and “an emotional cup of chicken soup”—fitting phrases for a hospice chaplain who was honored at the prestigious VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® National Employee Recognition Awards.

VITAS, the nation’s leading hospice provider with 8,640 employees, each year recognizes those who best serve their patients, families and fellow employees. Tiernan of San Diego received the Founder’s Award for Outstanding Service as a Chaplain.

Tiernan, who has been a VITAS chaplain in San Diego since 2002, offers comfort and spiritual counseling to patients, their families and her fellow employees. She is also active within the Latino community and fills a number of other important roles at VITAS.

As a bilingual Latina, “Tiernan helps VITAS address issues of ethics, spiritual anguish, confusion and religious beliefs with our Spanish-speaking patients,” says John Gillman, Ph.D., supervisor of Clinical Pastoral Education at VITAS. “She also acts as a translator in coordinating the cultural needs of patients and their families.”

Tiernan has served on several local and national panels addressing the cultural and religious dimensions of end-of-life care for Hispanics, and is president of the board of the Global Heart Center, which teaches the principles of self-esteem and compassion to school children and offers lectures on mysticism and meditation in the Mexican culture.

As one of the “best of the best,” Tiernan was rewarded with a weekend celebration at a beachfront hotel in South Florida.