Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers Selects First DAISY Award Winner of 2026
March 31, 2026, MORRIS, IL – Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers has recognized Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Nurse Mackenzie Christensen as its first DAISY Award recipient of 2026.
The DAISY Award is an internationally recognized honor that celebrates nurses for the exceptional, compassionate care they provide to patients. The award was established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who was profoundly moved by the care and compassion shown to their entire family while their son was in the hospital. Out of gratitude, they created the DAISY Award as a lasting tribute to Patrick’s legacy of positivity and as a way to honor nurses everywhere.
In nominating Christensen for the DAISY Award, a patient’s sister wrote: “Kenzie has, by far, been the most supportive and comforting nurse to our family and to my brother in such a detrimental and scary time,” the nominator wrote. “She was there for every single one of my brother’s needs and our family’s. She was there to pick up every single tear that we shed and to answer every single question we had, and we had A LOT. Nurse Kenzie was beyond a blessing to my brother and our family, and I hope that every ICU patient is blessed with even just a little of Nurse Kenzie’s presence.”
The next DAISY Award winner at Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers will be announced during the second quarter of 2026. Nominations are accepted from patients, family members, staff, and physicians who have experienced or witnessed a nurse providing extraordinary, compassionate care.
To nominate a nurse for the DAISY Award, paper nomination forms are available at the DAISY boxes located throughout the hospital main campus and healthcare centers, or via the electronic form on the Morris Hospital website.
Serving patients from 28 locations, Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers includes the 89-bed Morris Hospital, as well as physician offices in Braidwood, Channahon, Diamond-Coal City, Dwight, Gardner, Marseilles, Mazon, Minooka, Morris, Newark, Ottawa, and Seneca. Through the services of over 1,900 healthcare professionals, physicians and volunteers, Morris Hospital provides lifesaving cardiac intervention in its state-of-the-art cath lab, a radiation therapy center for cancer patients, Mako robotic-arm assisted surgery for orthopedics, a state-of-the-art intensive care unit, and integrated behavioral health in the primary care setting. Morris Hospital is a Level II perinatal care provider and primary stroke center. The hospital is known for its compassionate and personalized approach to healthcare.
