Las Vegas, Nevada – A hero by definition is someone who is admired for noble qualities.Ilona Van Boven, technical director for Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging has been named Healthcare Humanitarian of Southern Nevada by Nevada Business Magazine, she will receive her prestigious award at this year’s 12th annual Healthcare Heroes Awards Ceremony. The Humanitarian Award is just one of 20 awards given out annually for the last 11 years. Healthcare Heroes was created to help grow the quality of healthcare in Nevada by recognizing honorees in the categories of Humanitarian, Administrator, Care Provider, Educator, Community Partner, Volunteer, Innovator, Non-Profit, Physician, and Lifetime Achievement.At Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging we like to think all of our employees are heroes, each person playing an important role in every patient’s care. So, how do we recognize our entire clinical staff? By nominating the one person who represents them, who leads them and who is a true role-model for what it means to be a HealthCare Hero.Ilona Van Boven is SDMI’s shining secret star, a gem who flies under the radar, never seeking praise or recognition for the love she shows patients and staff every-single-day.There are over 38 years of Lona stories. She has cried with patients, held their hands, watched their children, washed their soiled clothes, fed them, held them, taken their triumphs and their pain straight to her heart.Compassion and patient care is the foundation of who Lona is but it is her knowledge and expertise that have earned her the title of Technical Director. Lona will find the answers you need if she doesn’t have them (which she usually does), ALWAYS answers her phone and knows everyone’s name.“Lona is the soul of SDMI. She provides the extra spark of humanity that makes SDMI so different than a routine healthcare organization. She will always speak with a patient and will always go the extra step to make a patient feel comfortable, whether that is picking them up for an appointment or taking them home or speaking with them in a time of extreme anxiety or aggravation. She has an unbelievable relationship with our staff and has always maintained the highest ethical considerations for everything that we perform and do at SDMI. She is an invaluable asset to SDMI and to the healthcare community of Las Vegas and has provided these services to SDMI for well over 30 years. She is a testimony to the goodness that exists in healthcare in Las Vegas and Nevada and I wholeheartedly endorse her for this honor,” explains Dr. David Steinberg, CEO and founding partner of SDMI.Lona is not only a healthcare hero but the star of SDMI’s Every Patient is a VIP video where you can hear her compassion first hand. View the You Tube video here. To see Lona's HealthCare Hero Award video click here.