Schmitz Wins First Matsuo Award

By WRILEY NELSON
ONEONTA

Helios Care recently announced that it will present the first Yoshiro Matsuo Compassionate Care Award to Otego home health aide Lisa Schmitz at its 40th anniversary Gala. According to a release, the award committee had a difficult time choosing among the 14 candidates nominated by patients and community members in the three counties Helios serves. Dr. Matsuo was instrumental in bringing palliative care to upstate New York; he was a co-founder of the organization that is now Helios and volunteered as its medical director and one of its leading public advocates for 25 years. He was also a long-serving U.S. Army and Army Reserve physician who treated many wounded Vietnam veterans and practiced as a respected physician in the Oneonta area for more than five decades. The award committee sought a recipient with all of Dr. Matsuo’s qualities: kindness, leadership, benevolence and a selfless dedication to service.

“I’m excited, nervous and honored to receive this award,” Schmitz said in a brief e-mail after the announcement. “I was always the shy girl that sits in the corner. I take pride in my work taking care of my patients and their families each and every day; I’m very blessed. I want to thank my family, my friends, my patients and their families, and my Helios family.”

Schmitz will be honored in a short ceremony at the Dancing Around the Sun Gala, which will be held at The Otesaga on Saturday, December 2. There will be a wine tasting at 5:15 p.m., followed by cocktails and appetizers at 6 and dinner at 7; a silent auction will take place throughout the evening, and the event will end with a fireworks show. Members of the public are invited to celebrate the milestone; tickets may be purchased for individuals, couples or tables of 10 at https://www.helioscare.org/events/.