Santee Community Leader Honored as Healthcare Hero

Santee resident and community leader Sandy Pugliese was recently honored with a 2014 Healthcare Hero award from the Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD).

Pugliese organizes “Santa’s Korner,” a program at Grossmont Hospital that collects gifts and food for needy families in the community during the holidays.

Driven by Pugliese’s leadership, the annual Santa's Korner program is a hospital-wide effort that involves more than 30 hospital departments – from the women's center to the emergency room – all raising money to donate hundreds of toys, clothes and household items to local families during the holiday season. The families are identified by social service agencies who act as intermediaries between donors and recipients. Agencies that helped select beneficiaries include the Salvation Army, Crisis House and Vista Hill. More than 40 families benefit every December from Santa’s Korner.

Pugliese’s career has spanned more than 22 years at Grossmont Hospital as community relations manager. However, countless numbers of East County residents have unknowingly benefited over the decades from her thousands of hours spent behind the scenes in volunteer service in a variety of activities and causes.

From 1981 to 2003, she served as an elected official for 22 years, winning five consecutive terms, as a member of the Santee School District board of directors. Following her retirement from the school district board, her life of public service continued as a board officer for the Santee Chamber of Commerce. Today, she serves on the chamber’s executive board as secretary and the chairperson for the Chamber’s annual awards program.

In addition, for the past 13 years, she has served as a member of the County of San Diego’s Social Services Advisory Board (SSAB), an appointment by County Supervisor Dianne Jacob. She is currently serving on the board as board vice chair.

Also, for the past 10 years, she has served as a member of East County Family YMCA Board of Management, a group of more than 60 individuals representing East County businesses and the community.

Since 2006, she has served on the board of the Santee-Lakeside Rotary Club, one of the most active Rotary Clubs in the area. Pugliese is the epitome of the Rotary’s Club motto of “service above self” and making a difference in the community. She was named the 2009-2010 Rotarian of the Year.

Pugliese headed the Club’s effort to obtain a $2,000 matching grant from Rotary District 5340 to benefit the Santee Food Bank. With an additional $2,000 from the Santee-Lakeside Rotary Club, the Santee Food Bank was able to purchase a large-capacity, commercial-grade refrigerator and three chest freezers to safely store preserving perishable food for distribution. With this additional storage capacity, the Santee Food Bank is able to serve more families. She also assisted the Club with securing a $5,000 grant from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund that has been applied to the Club's scholarship program serving high school students at Santana, West Hills and El Capitan.

For the past four years, she has served as a member of the Health Care Reform Committee of the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce. This committee analyzes state and federal proposals related to health care reform initiatives. In 2006, Pugliese was honored as one of the Chamber’s Women In Leadership award recipients based on her efforts with the success of Proposition G, a taxpayer-approved bond measure that is financing new and improved patient care facilities at Grossmont Hospital.

Now in its eighth year, GHD’s Healthcare Hero awards program recognizes and rewards volunteers for significant contributions to healthcare in San Diego’s East County region. GHD is a public agency that supports health-related community programs and services in San Diego’s East County region.

The Grossmont Healthcare District’s 2014 Healthcare Hero awards were presented at a luncheon on Wednesday, May 14, at Steele Canyon Golf Club in Jamul.