Schmitz Wins First Matsuo Award
By WRILEY NELSON
ONEONTA
(Photo provided)
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.