SPRINGFIELD, IL - The Illinois Department of Public Health and Illinois Emergency Medical Services for Children program today announced a pediatrician and a community volunteer as two of the recipients of this year's Ron W. Lee, M.D., Excellence in Pediatric Care Awards.

The awards are given in recognition of excellence to those dedicated to pediatric emergency care and childhood injury prevention initiatives. Individuals or organizations can be nominated for one of the following three award categories – Lifetime Achievement, Clinical Excellence and Community Services. Nominations for the awards were received from throughout the state.

Awards will be presented today and May 24. Those being presented awards today are –

Clinical Excellence – Charles Nozicka, D.O., medical director, Pediatric Services and Pediatric Emergency Medicine, St. Alexius Medical Center, Hoffmann Estates.

Community Service – John Manasse, Telephone Pioneers of America, Arlington Heights.

Dr. Nozicka, a pediatrician and diagnostician, was instrumental in developing the EmergiKids Pediatric Emergency Room at St. Alexius Medical Center. He has dedicated himself to making the emergency care experience more supportive for pediatric patients and their parents. He has been especially conscientious of appropriate pain management and takes a proactive stance on addressing children's pain. Dr. Nozicka also is involved in pediatric professional organizations, hospital committee work, teaching and publishing.

After retiring from SBC Ameritech in 1982, John Manasse joined the Telephone Pioneers of America where he learned of a program in which stuffed animals were donated to a few suburban fire departments for pediatric patients. Manasse extended the program to the Chicago Fire Department, and over the past 12 years, he has delivered more than 8,000 bears to more than 70 ambulances in Chicago.

The Ron W. Lee, M.D., Excellence in Pediatric Care Awards are presented annually each May as part of Emergency Medical Services Week (May 19-25). Dr. Lee was the director of emergency medicine at Loyola University Medical Center and was instrumental in establishing and fostering the EMSC program in Illinois. He passed away in 1998.

The Illinois EMSC program, a collaborative effort of the Department and Loyola University Medical Center of Chicago, was established in 1994 to ensure that the emergency medical care needs of children were adequately addressed.