Ron W. Lee, MD Pediatric Care Award – Clinical Excellence

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Illinois Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program today honored Teresa Riech, MD with a special pediatric care award for her contributions to childhood care. The Ron W. Lee, MD – Excellence in Pediatric Care Awards are given annually by IDPH and EMSC to recognize those dedicated to pediatric emergency care and childhood injury prevention initiatives. Individuals or organizations can be nominated in one of three award categories – Lifetime Achievement, Clinical Excellence and Community Service.

Dr. Teresa Riech is the Emergency Department Pediatric Medical Director at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center and Children’s Hospital of Illinois. She is triple board certified in emergency medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics. Her education certifications include: Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Neonatal Resuscitation Provider, Advanced Trauma Life Support and International Trauma Life Support.

Dr. Riech is also Major Riech, a Flight Surgeon with the Air National Guard logging more than 300 hours in an F-16 Fighting Falcon with deployments to Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan. In addition, Dr. Riech is a Department of Defense Flight Surgeon with NASA, coordinating emergency medical response for space shuttle landings at Edwards Air Force Base.

The Ron W. Lee, MD Excellence in Pediatric Care awards are presented each May. Dr. Lee, who died in 1998, was the director of emergency medicine at Loyola University Medical Center and was instrumental in establishing and fostering the EMSC program in Illinois.