Who is your favorite superhero?

While most people will cry out for Batman or Captain America, and some will lovingly mention their parents, teachers or friends, Optum Health Care Technology says Gian Carla Ortiz is their favorite superhero.

Carla, a Southville Nursing alumna, is one of the 150 awardees out of 2000 nominations of the multinational health care company. She is also recognized as (1) Best Bright Idea 2015 – Ranked 2 Overall Optum Global Solutions, (2) NRS – Team United Award, (3) Spot Awardee – OGS Townhall, (4) Innovation Awardee – OptumHealth Townhall, (5) First Lean Certified Practitioner 2015, (6) Active UCare Volunteer, (7) Star and Venus Awardee Business Quality, (8) Consistent Exceeds Expectations (EE rating) NRS Operations, (9) Highest QNI Savings Implemented 2015 and 2014.

Like Uncle Ben, Carla knows that with great power comes great responsibility. She plans to further enrich her skills and knowledge on leadership especially in the clinical setting.

“Amidst the honor and recognition, I feel that a bigger responsibility awaits me, to bring out the superhero in every person by empowering them and helping them develop their potentials,” Carla says.

Carla looks back to her roots and thanks her mentor, Dean Carmel Villegas, for all the nursing theories and skills and good values she learned, citing the “Facite Diferentem” (Make a Difference) and the 5Cs as the Southville teachings she lives by.

“Southville has been a great training ground for me and I will always be thankful for that. Making a difference separates me from all other great workers in our organization, apart from the great work, its impact in the institution and to your co-workers matters a lot too,” Carla says.

Carla encourages the Nursing students of Southville to follow in her footsteps and become a superhero.

Carla says, “we cannot really quantify if a person is successful or not, but I guess what I have right now is the path towards career satisfaction. You can tell that you are on the right path when you see that you are able to empower other people, help your organization and grow as a productive individual gearing towards making a difference in your community.”