Thursday, October 1, 2026
Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital’s emergency department has earned the Emergency Nurses Association’s Lantern Award for the first time, recognizing the department’s impressive achievements in leadership, clinical practice, education, advocacy and research.
The 2026 award was announced on July 27 by the Emergency Nurses Association, or ENA, which selected a record number 126 emergency departments for the honor. LIJ Valley Stream was one of six New York hospitals that made this year’s list.
Established in 2011, the national award specifically singles out emergency departments that demonstrate exceptional and innovative performance while incorporating evidence-based practice into emergency care.
The award also serves as a visible indication of a department’s commitment to quality, safety and a healthy work environment.
For LIJ Valley Stream, earning the distinction was the result of implementing years of changes in how the emergency department provides care.
“There’s just no way that an emergency department can achieve the Lantern Award overnight,” Arlene Ramirez, the hospital’s senior director of patient care services, said. “It’s a journey over time in which we go about improving the care that we provide via performance improvement projects, and advocacy for our patients, implementing evidence-based care, leadership and our practice toward the patients.”
Among the changes was the implementation of a split-flow model, in which a physician sees patients near the beginning of the process after an initial nursing assessment. According to Ramirez, the model has improved care and patient experience.
The department also streamlined its approach to treating sepsis and undertook other performance-improvement projects, using data and outcomes to evaluate whether changes were working.
According to the ENA, Lantern Award applicants are evaluated through a comprehensive process that includes quantitative performance and outcome measures as well as qualitative descriptions of noteworthy practices. The current application covers leadership and practice, operations, education, advocacy and research.
About eight frontline emergency department team members volunteered to put together the hospital’s application, which exceeded 80 pages, working alongside nurse leadership and an educator. The group divided the application’s core areas among the writers and consulted with emergency management and quality teams to ensure that the application included appropriate data and outcomes. Ramirez and the chief nursing officer served as editors.
The application was submitted in February, and the department was notified of the recognition in June.
“It’s an honor,” Ramirez said. “It’s a privilege to be able to tell not only our community but nationally that we are recognized for the care that we provide. To me, it’s a validation of all the work that we have done to ensure the highest level of care and meet that standard of clinical care that we provide to the community.”
The hospital also has been undergoing a multiphase construction project for nearly eight years, requiring the emergency department to operate within a reduced workspace and across two floors, while patient volume has increased.
That constraint contributed to changes in the department’s layout and care model, including the creation of split-flow and “super track” areas. The department also incorporated licensed practical nurses into its emergency care model, allowing registered nurses to focus on responsibilities within their highest scope of practice, according to Ramirez.
The ENA stressed that Lantern applicants are expected to demonstrate measurable improvement and explain how successful practices can be sustained. Recipients receive the designation for three years and may reapply at the end of that period.
For Tania Francois, a staff nurse, clinical lab nurse and triage nurse in the emergency department, the recognition reflects the teamwork she sees during each shift.
Francois described the department as a close-knit team in which employees support one another while caring for patients. Emergency nursing can be particularly demanding because patients arrive with a wide variety of conditions, she added.
“We are high stress because a lot of the time this could be the worst day of a patient’s life, and we gotta get together and either save their life or stabilize them,” Francois, who has worked at the hospital for five years, said. “It is a little different than any other part of the hospital.”
Physicians, nurses, emergency technicians and other departments collaborate through committees to establish goals and performance improvement plans. Frontline employees also contribute suggestions and feedback about changes to emergency department operations.
“Every year that I’ve been here, we’ve achieved something greater, something better, and it’s such a great experience for me,” Francois said. “I learn every single day. In the emergency room, you see so many things across the lifespan, and I really appreciate that, especially being here in a community hospital. It’s a learning experience. It’s humbling, and I appreciate each and every person that I work with on a daily basis.”
Proudly displaying the achievement, the department has placed a banner outside the hospital and a plaque in the lobby, with another planned for the emergency department waiting room.
