By Kendall Patterson
In the midst of the pandemic last year, Chester County native, Austin Springer PhD, Human Resources, spear-headed St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s COVID-19 response, particularly with SJPASS app and vaccination efforts.
According to St. Jude “SJ PASS is part of our overarching COMPASS program and provides a convenient way to complete daily symptom screenings for our patients, families, visitors, volunteers, contractors and employees. SJ PASS informs you when you have been selected for nasal swab testing and provides access to campus buildings.”
Springer, CCHS graduate of 1995, is the manager of human resources information system applications and people analytics in human resources.
His efforts earned him St. Jude’s highest honor bestowed upon St. Jude’s employees, the 2021 Amos Jacobs Award.
This honoree is selected every year. It is named for hospital founder Danny Thomas—who was Amos Jacobs before adopting a stage name. It was in the years he spent as a struggling entertainer that Amos Jacobs made his plea to St. Jude Thaddeus that led to the creation of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
In nominating Austin for the 5100 Club, his colleagues at St. Jude said:
“Since March of 2020, Austin has assisted in the development, planning and implementation of our COVID-19 employee screening programs, the SJPASS app and COVID-19 vaccination efforts, building most of these programs for us. He is truly an unsung hero in his efforts to keep our campus safe. He works day and night to ensure our systems function properly.”
“When the COVID-19 vaccine approval was expedited by the FDA, St. Jude was on the early list of recipients to receive a batch for distribution, but we had no way to gauge participant interest and track the distribution from start to finish. Austin took the COVID-19 screening system and, with the work of a team, a vaccine module was developed and added to the COVID-19 screening system in time for the vaccine distribution, which was just a few weeks from the project initiation.”
St. Jude explains how the honoree is selected and the history of the award.
The single annual Amos Jacobs winner is selected from a pool of the 5100 winners.
The 5100 Club is among the highest employee honors at St. Jude. Employees are considered for this honor through the Web-based Ovation performance award program.
The number “51” was significant to St. Jude’s founder, Danny Thomas:
“St. Jude Hospital Foundation of California staged its first major fund-raising event in a Chicago theater in December 1951. It was the Midwest premiere of Danny Thomas’ new film I’ll See You In My Dreams, with Doris Day. ‘We raised $51,000 that night in 1951,’ Thomas later recalled. ‘It’s funny how that number has haunted me for years. I catapulted out of the 5100 Club in Chicago; we collected $51,000 at our first major benefit; and St. Jude Hospital is built on Highway 51 in Tennessee.’” - from His Promise
The Amos Jacobs Award replaces and expands the old Employee of the Year award. The year’s previous 5100 Club winners are considered for this honor.
Springer is also a 2021 Living the Values honoree and a part of the team to earn the 2021 Clinical Care Improvement Award. He is celebrating his tenth anniversary with St. Jude this year.
“I’m very proud of my son… He has worked hard and I’m just extremely proud,” his mother, Cindy Springer, said. “I just know he has helped so many people. He’s really done a lot for St. Jude.” She encourages everyone to donate to St. Jude.
“It’s just amazing to see there,” she added. “It’s just uplifting. As soon as you walk in there it’s just hope. It’s not as depressing as some people might think with little kids running around with cancer. There’s hope at St. Jude,” Cindy said. “I’m so grateful to God that led Austin there to work.”
