( Atlantic, Iowa) — Officials with Cass Health have announced Michele Williams, RN was selected to receive the Hospital Hero award from the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA). Williams will be formally recognized in October at the IHA Annual Meeting in Des Moines along with 10 other recipients.

Williams started at Cass Health in 1997 and has worked as an RN since 2000. During her career, she spent more than a decade in both obstetrics and emergency care. Today, she works full-time in the Emergency Department and continues to provide back-up coverage to obstetrics when needed.

Williams was nominated by Cass Health and parents Maddy Peppers and Matt Petersen who credit Williams with saving the life of their infant son Harvey. Harvey was born on February 4th this year, and while still in the hospital, it was discovered that he had a large ventricular septal defect (VSD), which is a hole in the heart between the right and left ventricles. After a few days at Children’s Nebraska hospital, they were discharged home. But on the 19th, when he was only two weeks old, Harvey’s condition took a turn for the worse.

Michele Williams, RN (Cass Health photo)

At the Cass Health Emergency Department, Williams met the family at the door and began immediately assessing Harvey. With her obstetrics and emergency nursing background, Williams was the perfect person to provide care to Harvey and his parents. She initiated a code blue, started compressions, and choreographed the lifesaving medical care that ultimately saved Harvey’s life.

After the team stabilized Harvey, Maddy remembers that Williams came out of the room and went straight to her delivering a hug that Maddy said, “I will never forget that. I could feel her love for Harvey and for us.” Although this one moment stands out as particularly heroic, it’s certainly only one example of the effort Williams make for her patients, her team, and her community. She has selflessly volunteered with the Massena Rescue, which earned her the Spirit of Volunteerism Award at Cass Health in 2024. Dr. Autumn Keiser said, “Michele Williams embodies what it means to be a hospital hero—skilled, selfless, compassionate, and committed to both her patients and her colleagues.”

Since 2007, the Hospital Heroes program has celebrated employees who have acted courageously in a moment’s crisis or who have selflessly served their hospitals and communities throughout their careers. Hospital Heroes are nominated by their peers and award recipients are selected by a committee of health care executives.

The Iowa Hospital Association is a voluntary membership organization representing hospital and health system interests to business, government, and consumer audiences.