UVA Today is highlighting the winners of the 2013 Leonard W. Sandridge Outstanding Contribution Awards, the highest U.Va. honor staff members receive for their dedicated service to the University. Today: Stephanie Reed, physical therapist. To see all of the stories, click here.

As a University of Virginia Medical Center physical therapist tasked with helping patients recover from serious illnesses and injuries, Stephanie R. Reed excels.

“She has the ability to get everyone (patients, families, staff) excited about the possibilities for recovery and meaningful life beyond the hospital,” a nominator wrote. “Patients know that she will be with them throughout their difficult journey, every step of the way.”

Reed demonstrated those skills with a patient who had been badly injured in a motorcycle crash – just one example of how she doesn’t give up on patients.

“Stephanie worked hard each day to encourage him, tell him that ‘can’t’ was not in his vocabulary, and to motivate him to work with therapies,” a nominator wrote.

As she worked with the patient on his rehabilitation, she also researched the prices of wheelchairs and equipment he would need, and pulled the patient’s entire care team together in his room to discuss plans and strategies. She even took him out to the parking garage to practice transferring from his wheelchair to a car, so that his mother would be able to get him out of the car and into his house.

“I have never seen such a turnaround as the day [the patient] stood up and walked a few steps with his walker; he was grinning from ear to ear and knew he could finally get home and back to his life,” a nominator wrote. “The patient and his mother completely credited Stephanie for this turnaround in his care and in his disposition. She got the rest of the team excited to see if we could pull off this miracle and we did it earlier than anticipated!”

That type of effort to serve patients is typical for Reed. “She goes way above and beyond on a daily basis to provide extraordinary care for each and every one of her patients,” a nominator wrote. “She does whatever it takes to ‘get the job done’ with the best outcome possible for her patients.”