Miami, Florida, August 2, 2007 – Coping with a woman’s threat to kill herself because of overwhelming demands in caring for her dying husband and father was just one of a full day of calls for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® Admissions Coordinator Christopher Plummer. He works at VITAS’ West Coast Admissions Call Center in San Diego.

Plummer’s ability to counsel the distraught woman as well as his handling of other customer-service calls earned him VITAS’ Outstanding Admissions Coordinator Award at the company’s prestigious 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. Plummer, who lives in San Diego and has worked for VITAS since 2003, was among this year’s 25 honorees.

Plummer was on the phone with the distressed woman for two hours. She was upset because taking care of her terminally ill husband had left them destitute, and suddenly her estranged father re-entered her life, asking for her help in his dying days. Plummer assured the woman that VITAS could help.

“We eventually took them on as a charity case and got them on a state-funded insurance program,” he says. “But even when I hung up, I thought, ‘Here is a person with a glimmer of hope.’ It felt good to be able to talk someone through such a traumatic ordeal.”

Plummer’s associates add that he is an out-of-the-box thinker who talks to his customers on a level they can understand and relies on his instincts to sense what they need.

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