FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 2026
Deerfield Beach, FL: The Watson Caring Science Institute (WCSI) is proud to award Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with the Lotus Recognition™, honoring the organization’s sustained and deeply integrated commitment to Watson’s Caring Science and the 10 Caritas Processes® across its environment, workforce, and leadership practices.
This recognition reflects how Caring Science is not just an initiative at Holy Cross Health — it is a way of being. From the moment one enters the hospital, the presence of humanistic caring is visible and intentional. Core Values aligned with Watson’s principles are prominently displayed in public spaces, while Caritas Stations throughout the campus serve as gentle reminders for colleagues, patients, and families to pause, reflect, and connect.
Caring Arts and humanistic expression are woven into daily life at Holy Cross Health. Recognition boards invite colleagues to affirm one another’s acts of compassion, while creative initiatives—such as the Coloring Caring Project—offer staff moments of calm, self-regulation, and teamwork during busy shifts. These simple yet powerful practices create an environment where healing is nurtured not only through clinical care, but through beauty, reflection, and presence.
“This recognition reflects the culture we strive to live every day at Holy Cross Health,” said Taren O’Brien, MSN, RN, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer at Holy Cross Health. “When every colleague brings heart, intention and presence to the people we serve, it transforms care from routine to meaningful. Every conversation and every moment matters. It is how we show up for someone at a time when it matters most.”
Equally central to Holy Cross Health’s Lotus Recognition™ is its comprehensive approach to care for the caregiver. Serenity Rooms with massage chairs, a tranquil resiliency garden in the Mercy Courtyard, and meditation offerings in the chapel provide restorative spaces for staff to decompress, reflect, and renew. These caring-healing modalities support emotional balance, resilience, and well-being—strengthening caregivers’ ability to be fully present for those they serve.
Leadership commitment to Caring Science is evident throughout Holy Cross Health. As part of Trinity Health network, Holy Cross is designated a WCSI International Affiliate. Nursing and executive leaders intentionally allocate resources to ensure ongoing education, reflection, and formation. Participation in Caritas Community Conferences, biannual Nursing Caritas Retreats, and Caritas-centered Nurses Week celebrations demonstrate how leadership actively prioritizes self-care, professional meaning, and relational practice.
Caring Science is also embedded into onboarding, interviews, orientation, and daily practice through Caritas Moments and Code Lavender responses, ensuring that compassion is consistently modeled, taught, and sustained.
By honoring Holy Cross Health with the Lotus Recognition™, WCSI celebrates an organization that exemplifies what it means to live Caring Science fully—through environment, leadership, creativity, and an unwavering dedication to human dignity. Holy Cross Health stands as a powerful example of how caring-healing cultures flourish when compassion is intentionally cultivated and courageously led.
About Holy Cross Health: A member of Trinity Health, Fort Lauderdale-based Holy Cross Hospital, dba Holy Cross Health, is a full-service, not-for-profit, Catholic, teaching hospital operating in the spirit of the Sisters of Mercy. Holy Cross has been recognized for six Types of Care in U.S. News and World Report’s 2025-2026 Best Hospital rankings, was named among the 2024 America’s Best-In- State Hospitals by Newsweek and selected as a Forbes America’s Best Employers for Healthcare Professionals in 2025. Holy Cross has also been designated as a High Performer by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for LGBTQ+ health care access. Through strategic collaborations and a commitment to being a person-centered, transforming, healing presence, the 557-bed hospital offers progressive inpatient, outpatient and community outreach services and clinical research trials to serve as the community’s trusted health partner for life. Holy Cross Health also includes Holy Cross HealthPlex outpatient facility, urgent care centers and more than 40 Holy Cross Medical Group physician practices. To learn more about Holy Cross Health, visit https://www.holy-cross.com/
About Watson Caring Science Institute (WCSI): The Watson Caring Science Institute (WCSI) is an international non-profit organization that advances the philosophies, theories, and practices of Human Caring/Caring Science, founded by Jean Watson, Ph.D., RN, AHN-BC, FAAN, LL (AAN), WCSI’s Founder & Director. Focusing on research, education, praxis, leadership, and legacy, the institute aims to widen the development and understanding of Watson’s Caring Science to inform our notion of quality care and healing environments through various educational programs, nurse scientific research, partnerships, events and affiliations. For more information, please visit www.watsoncaringscience.org.