Tammy Francis RN, CDE

Opus Peace Ambassador of the Year

"Tammy Francis was not selected for this year's Opus Peace award because she is an effective executive. Tammy Francis was selected because she cares," says Opus Peace founder, Deborah Grassman. Deborah  states they were having dinner at a restaurant and she was telling Tammy how Hospice Foundation of America wanted to promote Soul Injury. Tammy said, ‘You’re on to something. We need this." 

Deborah told Tammy that Smoky Mountain could be on the cutting edge of this and they could present at conferences together. Tammy said, "I don’t care about that. We want our patients to have everything. We don’t have Soul Injury treatment right now and I want our patients to have that. I don’t care about being at a podium talking about it, I want to be doing it because I care about patient care."

Deborah said that’s the moment when she knew that she was looking at the next nominee for the Opus Peace award because Tammy had a true love for her patients and their well-being. “When she said that to me, it came from a humble heart. It came from a caring heart.”

Ralph Ozmun confirms Tammy Francis's worthiness as an award recipient. Before his retirement, he and his wife both worked at Smoky Mountain Hospice, Ralph as their Volunteer Coordinator:  "You can't out-give Tammy Francis. She is generous to patients and staff alike. She has a heart bigger than anyone I've ever met."