They are the problem-solvers and the planners, the organizers and the observers. Administrative professionals keep City of Hope’s offices, labs and clinics running smoothly, and three of these staff members recently were honored for their commitment.

Linda Vuong (Photo by Alicia Di Rado)

The employees were recognized at the fourth annual Administrative Professional of the Year award ceremony on April 26, part of a celebratory lunch organized by City of Hope’s chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals, or IAAP. The ceremony at Cooper Auditorium capped off the organization’s 11th annual IAAP Administrative Professionals Week, called “Admins: The Pulse of the Office.”

Every year, IAAP seeks nominations from employees for the awards, which recognize assistants and coordinators who show excellence in advancing City of Hope’s work. The group also awards an annual scholarship.

This year’s first place winner for the Administrative Professional of the Year was Linda Vuong, coordinator in the Department of Supportive Care Medicine.

“She constantly demonstrates a level of compassionate expertise that would only be expected of someone with many years of professional training and advanced communication skills,” said Michael Rabin, vice president of managed care, reading from her award nomination.

Vuong was praised for her ability to educate and engage her co-workers and her ability to guide others through difficult processes, as well as her knack for staying calm and focused when dealing with faculty, patients and family members who need help. She manages a variety of projects within her 80-member department.

The two runners up for the award were Sarah Bannister and Natalie Bafiera.

Bannister, administrative assistant in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, was recognized for her ability to listen to others, her openness, her creative ideas and her desire to learn. Bafiera, assistant to the vice president of operations, was honored for her teamwork, attitude and desire to become an expert resource in City of Hope policies and procedures — even when that means learning them on her own time.

Bafiera also won the Stephen J. Loy Memorial Scholarship. The award grants a year’s membership in IAAP to a staff member in remembrance of Loy, a former assistant in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

For more information about IAAP and its programs, visit www.coh.org/iaap.