Sunish Shah, PharmD, BCIDP, has received UPMC’s Award for Commitment and Excellence in Service (ACES). The ACES Award honors staff whose everyday actions, and in some instances, personal acts of courage and compassion exceed the high level of service that the community has come to expect from UPMC. Each year, less than one percent of UPMC staff from across the health system receives this honor. 

Sunish is one of the Antimicrobial Management Program (AMP) pharmacists at Presbyterian University Hospital (PUH). Dr. Janine Then, Pharmacy Manager of Clinical Services explained in her nomination of Sunish, “(He) understands the importance of knowing as much as possible about each patient when recommending antibiotic therapy. Sunish has created relationships at multiple outside hospitals to facilitate the transfer of microbiology results to get patients onto definitive therapy faster and with more confidence. This can lead to decreased length of stay but also (a) decrease in the number and type of antibiotics, which improves the patient’s wellness while they are with us.

One recent patient care story that was shared was an instance where Sunish identified that a patient was at high risk of being actively infected with endocarditis even though the team had not yet added it to their differential. He worked diligently to convince the team that additional testing was necessary. The testing was completed and endocarditis was confirmed. Sunish went a step further and created a treatment plan that included a graded challenge ensuring that the patient received optimized therapy. Sunish exemplifies the UPMC values and goes above and beyond daily.”

Congratulations, Sunish, on this well-deserved honor. Thank you for your hard work and dedication!