Published: May 21, 2025

Nick Cline Wins OHA Healthcare Worker of the Year Award

Nick Cline, EMS Coordinator and Clinical Educator at Avita Health System, has won the Ohio Hospital Association’s 2025 Albert E. Dyckes Healthcare Worker of the Year Award! Please join us in congratulating Nick on this extraordinary achievement. Read Nick’s nomination below:

Avita Health System, an independent community health system located in north central Ohio nominates Nick A. Cline, LPN, EMT, for the 2025 Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year. Nick is currently the EMS Coordinator and AHA Instructor and Clinical Educator for Avita.

Nick began his career in health care in the military. He served in the Army from 2001-2005 as a 91wM6 Medic in which he was deployed to Iraq. He worked at the Sina Hospital ICU/Burn Unit in Iraq. He also worked at Walter Reed Hospital Med/Surg, Education and Cardiac Unit. Nick has been an LPN since 2005 and began his employment for Avita in 2006.

Unrelenting Dedication

Community hospitals are the cornerstone of health and healing in neighborhoods across Ohio. These institutions are even more important in rural counties, where socioeconomic factors, healthy behaviors and medical access have led to higher rates of morbidity and mortality from chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease. Avita Health System is located within rural North Central Ohio and aims to improve the healthcare disparities within its rural communities by developing a comprehensive cardiovascular program that incorporates emergency heart attack care through cardiac catheterizations that provide lifesaving procedures for patients suffering a myocardial infarction.

Nick Cline, LPN, EMT has been the champion of this program through several educational endeavors including an inclusive community teaching program that focused on educating the public on heart attack warning signs, activation of the 911 system and highlighting the heart attack care that Avita Health System provides. Nick organized these educational seminars at nursing homes, workshops, business events and community open houses that encompassed heart attack care with additional highlights on primary prevention practices that can lessen the chance of having a heart attack. Nick has also organized open-house tours for the public with hands-on booths that show heart attack care equipment and heart models. For the sudden cardiac awareness month, Nick educated the Warehouse gym staff on the operation and function of their AED. One event that Nick organized and participated in was at Harmon Lodge at Candlewood Lake in Galion where additional complimentary services were provided such as hypertension and diabetes screening and health educational booths. Nick also contacted the Avita Health System pharmacy director to provide a free medicine education booth where patient’s medicines were reviewed with them for clarification and to look for possible adverse med-med interactions. One heart attack patient, who attended the Harmon Lodge event, told the Cardiac Cath Lab team that he remembered the talk on heart attack warning signs and activated 911 at the start of his symptoms and this early action saved his life.

Nick also focuses on education on the local EMS that highlights the Avita heart attack program. Nick visits all local fire, and EMS stations and provides education on cardiovascular care and ways that facilitate a faster entryway for EMS to get their patients timely lifesaving care. Nick sponsors the ‘Lights and Sirens’ CME event where cardiovascular educational topics are livestreamed to local and international EMS stations with live Q&A sessions that result in CME for emergency responders. One remarkable method Nick employed to improve heart attack care was through the development of the LifeNet EMS ECG transmission program. This program allows local EMS to send real-time ECGs from the field to the emergency room and to the on-call cardiologist, who could activate the on-call team. This early activation process allows faster procedure times that improve heart attack morbidity and mortality. The system that Nick helped develop has led to faster door to balloon times (a metric tracked by CMS) and acknowledgement by the Cath Lab quality oversight departments and surveyors including the Ohio Department of Health and DNV.

Although community hospitals are the pillar of hope and health, they do not function without compassionate and caring individuals who can develop, lead and implement programs that improve the health and wellbeing of the communities they serve. Nick has shown tremendous leadership and initiative by leading the development and implementation of a cardiovascular program that targets the number one killer of patients in rural America. His attention to community and healthcare education coupled with working as a team leader has led to Avita Health System being recognized by Rural Health Information Hub for its positive impact on community health and innovative techniques for success. Nick embodies qualities that go beyond professional competence that allows Avita Health System to achieve its mission to ‘improve the health and well-being of those we serve.’ These reasons have resulted in Nick being nominated for OHA’s Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award.

Nick developed and continues to oversee all interhospital transfers by setting up an agreement with a local EMS vendor. Avita’s waiting time for transferring patients within the system or transportation to tertiary care hospitals outside of Avita Health System has greatly reduced. Nick worked with the vendor to set up quality metrics that are measured and reported monthly. For the past two years all the goals have been met. Nick is also available 24/7 to facilitate when needed. His goes above and beyond to ensure patients have appropriate transportation regardless of the day or time.

Community Philanthropy

Nick is on the Board of ADAMH for Marion and Crawford Counties. He was the Youth Pastor at New Day Ministries from 2017 – 2020. He led Christmas and Easter Programs for the Children in the church. The New Day Ministries Outreach Center was recently awarded by the Bucyrus Chamber of Commerce. Nick has been involved in toys and food drives for Christmas meals and gifts for families in need. Nick also conducted a supply drive to victims of a recent hurricane which included packing a 26-foot box truck full and driving it to eastern Kentucky.

Additionally, during the peak of the COVID surge when hospital visitation was limited, Nick reached out to the CNO for approval to visit and round on patients. He did this on his own personal time, after his normal work hours and on weekends and made a positive difference for these patients, especially those in COVID isolation that could not have visitors. Avita witnessed the servant’s heart in Nick with true compassion for people and his community.

Nick Cline knows no stranger and able to talk with anyone. In turn, if you ask anyone if they know Nick, it would be a resounding ‘Yes.’ Nick is someone who cannot turn away from anyone in need. He is a man who is always there night or day. We mean this literally. With one call, he is up and moving. He has given his time and devotion to the hospital, patients and their families. The people he has reached out to and helped will never forget him and his kindness and devotion to others. He lives out his passion and faith. For these reasons Avita Health System is honored to nominate him for the OHA Albert E. Dyckes Health Care Worker of the Year Award