May 8, 2017
During the opening session of ASCA 2017, the Ambulatory
Surgery Center Association (ASCA) presented Alsie Sydness-Fitzgerald, RN, CASC, with the second annual Nap Gary Legacy Award for Lifetime
Achievement in the ASC Community. This award recognizes individuals who
have made a positive difference in the ASC community during many years of
dedicated service.
Alsie Sydness-Fitzgerald, RN, CASC, 2017 Nap Gary Legacy Award Winner
With a clinical and management health care career
spanning more than 50 years, Sydness-Fitzgerald is one of the original pioneers
in the ASC community. Her earliest experience was in a hospital-based ASC in
1976. In 1980, she helped get state approval for her first freestanding ASC,
which she also helped design. When that facility was later bought by Medical 21
(which later became Medical Care International), Sydness-Fitzgerald stayed on as a
regional director. Eventually, that company was purchased by the entity that
became HCA. At HCA, Sydness-Fitzgerald served as director of clinical operations
for the company’s ambulatory surgery division for nine years.
Although she “retired” in 2005, Sydness-Fitzgerald continues to
serve as a AAAHC surveyor and provide consulting assistance to ASCs across the
country. She has now held nearly every position possible at ASCA, including president of the association's Board of Directors, and continues to offer counsel and advice to the association whenever asked. She is also a current member of the BASC
Board of Directors.
The Nap Gary Legacy Award is named in honor of the former
past president of ASCA’s Board of Directors. The award recognizes lifetime
service to the ASC community.