Kali Martin Honored for Exemplary Leadership at Horizon Health

Kali Martin, Horizon Health emergency department manager, was one of only four Illinois rural hospital professionals to receive top honors for outstanding leadership at a recent awards ceremony in Champaign.

Kali received the 2022 “4 Under 40” Hospital Leadership Award from the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network (ICAHN) at its annual conference November 10. The award is presented to new and emerging healthcare leaders age 40 and under.

From engaging and motivating staff to helping optimize the electronic health record (EHR) for easier documentation compliance, Kali is “always coming up with new and innovative ideas,” said Samantha McCarty, Horizon Health critical care manager. “She works tirelessly to ensure staff feels supported and heard. The emergency department never sleeps, and I do not think Kali does, either. From obtaining her master’s degree while working fulltime to supporting staff in the emergency department at all hours of the day and night, she truly leads by example.

“Kali loves to recognize staff and never takes the spotlight for herself,” Samantha added. “She collaborated and led a team in significantly raising sepsis scores, and Horizon Health was awarded ICAHN’s 2021 IMPACT Award for the work she spearheaded. She also received the prestigious DAISY Award for nursing.”

Kali is a member of the Employee Engagement Committee and the Nursing Leadership Committee, whose mission is to improve nursing processes and policies. She routinely volunteers for additional duties and recently proposed putting “in unit” educators in place to help standardize onboarding of new staff. This was considered a highly successful process change that continues to make a difference for all new nurses at Horizon Health.

ICAHN is a network of 58 small, rural hospitals dedicated to strengthening the operations of its member hospitals through collaboration. It is recognized nationally for its work with rural healthcare administering several state, federal, and private healthcare programs.