Palak V. Shah a Physical Therapist

Palak is a Physical Therapist and has been a PT for 13 years. Palak works in an Inpatient Hospital setting. Her passion area in working as a NICU – PT. When the pandemic hit, she certainly took the unprecedented challenge in her stride and just took it on. She went above and beyond in her time with the special littlest tiny humans in the NICU and gave them, complete nurturing, comforting care. With the pandemic, a lot of the visitation policies impacted families, including parents and grand parents, foster parents, siblings and all caregivers involved in infant’s care. They could not come visit the infant(s). Palak would provide extra loving care along with her skilled therapies, to ensure that these infants received the therapeutic positive touch they needed and deserved. In the NICU there are infants who have challenges of withdrawals to in-utero drug exposure. They especially need the loving touch. The NICU Nurses are fantastic and they would of course do their part, but they are understandably busy as well, and so, Palak stepped up to provide Physical Therapy services to these infants and provide that extra care and touch they needed for comfort and feeling loved.

Palak also worked with COVID-19 patients directly on other units of the hospital, never once complaining. She stepped up, if her coworkers were unable to cover a shift and would take up the shift so the team did not have a dire shortage.

Even within her team, Palak would go above and beyond to help support her colleagues during this stressful time, to bring and boost their morale up. She would take home cooked fresh meals and also donated 50 cloth masks from her own expense, and this was in the early on and the very beginning stages of the Pandemic, where masks were a shortage. She helped in every way she could – offered prayers, support, smile and a listening ear, cheering them up with local organization based recognition, ordering pizzas, etc., to help her co-workers endure and persevere through this difficult time; even though it was equally taxing on her at all levels – mentally, physically and emotionally.

As her husband, Palak is my HERO. A true genuinely hard working Therapist who cares for all her patients, puts them first and care for her coworkers equally.

What other characteristics has your Hero demonstrated to support this nomination?

Palak is a very giving and a very caring woman, just in general. She loves people, cares for them, takes care of them, by putting herself last and others first. Always smiling, and hard working, she often forgets to take care of herself, first.

Describe the impact of your Hero on a local, regional, national, and/or international level.

Her work and actions had a local impact so to speak, but a lasting one to last a lifetime, with those infants that she care for and provided care and love, comfort and support – silently, taking it in her stride, as a part of her “job”.

Is there anything else about your Hero that you would like the committee to consider?

Palak is a wonderful mom, friend, sister, wife and a daughter. She is certainly setting a good example through words, thoughts and action for our 13 year old son.