For the last five years, Alliance has recognized the top performers in the company. These team members embody our core values of above and beyond compassion, respect, integrity, excellence, and service in care. Each year, we receive strong nominations with encouraging stories about incredible people who do so much for this company. Five individual recipients are awarded based on their performance’s alignment to one of our five core values. In addition, we honor a recipient of our Provider Award and a recipient of our Chairman’s Award for their embodiment of many or all of our Alliance Core Values.

We’re proud to announce this year’s recipients below for the 5th Annual Alliance Core Value Awards. Learn more about each recipient and why they were chosen for the award below! 

COMPASSION AWARD

The recipient of the Compassion award is someone who consistently demonstrates sympathy and concern for the misfortunes of others, along with a strong desire to help. This person can be described as kind, warm, sensitive, and determined to alleviate or reduce suffering. The Compassion Award winner shows these traits around both patients and co-workers.

This year, Alliance’s RN- Charge Nurse in Dallas, Robin Cade, received this award. 

Here’s why:

“While COVID-19 changed most of our day-to-days, Robin got right to work preparing our team, her staff, and making us stronger than ever. She puts faith into others and believes that building a team just makes us all better. 

She’s someone who always leads with compassion. Whether that be for the patient, her team, and even her family. She puts everything she has into her job and always strives to do more instead of the bare minimum.”

RESPECT AWARD

The recipient of the Respect award shows daily that they value their co-workers and patients by honoring their personal rights, opinions, and dignity. This respectful employee is willing to listen and learn from others. They are able to both lead and follow. The Respect Award winner is accessible to many because of their fair and open manner. The winner of the Respect Award treats others as they would like to be treated, regardless of whether or not the same views are shared.

This year, Alliance’s Senior Business Development Manager in our South/ Southwest territory, Otis Van Petties, Jr, won this award.

Here’s why:

“He treats everyone with respect, from the front desk to the physicians to our CEO. He is a constant presence in his offices and doesn’t hesitate to help out with any aspect of the practice.  He’s an extremely hard worker and goes out of his way for almost anybody.”

INTEGRITY AWARD

The recipient of the Integrity award is one who always does the right thing, even when no one else is looking. This person is honest, ethical, and has strong moral principles. The Integrity winner is an employee who is reliable and whose actions consistently reflect their words. They are trusted and relied upon by co-workers and patients because they are trustworthy. 

This year, Christina Cross, Alliance’s Patient Advocate for the Revenue Cycle Team in Lenox, received this award.

Here’s why:

“Christina has an impressive work ethic, moral grounding, and immense knowledge base. Not once has she shown hesitation or reluctance to help others 100%, but she always does so with kindness and patience – even in the instance she has to deliver less than favorable news. She is honest, compassionate and takes pride in doing her job efficiently and accurately.”

EXCELLENCE AWARD

The recipient of the Excellence Award continually strives to surpass ordinary standards. This person performs all tasks at 100% and can frequently be found going above and beyond their necessary duties. The Excellence Award winner seeks to improve, whether it’s an office process or a solution for a patient. They set specific goals and take steps to achieve them. This person collaborates and innovates in the office and with patients. 

This year, Alliance’s Front Office Manager in Cartersville and Dallas, Chrissy Harris, won this award.

Here’s why:

“She’s someone everyone loves, trusts and respects. She takes her job seriously, works hard, but also has fun doing it. She strives to be involved with her staff and develop relationships with each one. When people interact with her and value her opinions, it validates why she is in her role. 

She takes on every task with a smile on her face and you never have to worry about it not getting done; even better, you know it will be done with perfection.”

SERVICE AWARD

The recipient of the Service award understands that we are in business ultimately for one reason – to help patients overcome pain. The outstanding Service award winner is someone who directly touches patients along with someone who serves in a capacity that supports the centers and ultimately, the patient. The Service winner continually seeks to understand the needs of those around them. This person is accountable, friendly, empathetic, customer-focused, consistent, and resourceful.

This year, Alliance’s RN – Charge Nurse in Covington, Teresa Hoff, received the Service Award.

Here’s why:

“Teresa sacrifices her own personal time to come into the office early, on weekends, days the offices are closed, and always stays late to ensure tasks are completed to make processes run efficiently and take the workload off staff, especially when we may be working with less than a full crew. She has been a nurse, an MA, front desk staff, copy and Keurig repair woman, housekeeper, and a friend.”

PROVIDER AWARD

The recipient of this award is the CRNA, mid-level, or physician at Alliance Spine and Pain Centers who most embodies all of our core values as described above. This person lives by these values, thus setting an example for others to do the same. Their behavior is consistent, inspirational, and observed by both patients and employees.

This year, Alliance’s CRNA Manager, Marcy Steinberg, won this award.

Here’s why:

“With over a decade at Alliance, Marcy is the longest tenured anesthetist. She has helped shape the anesthesia practice and is the leader of infection control for Alliance. She manages our anesthesiology team and shows a great amount of care for the employees. The care is also reflected in her outstanding patient care.”

CHAIRMAN’S AWARD

The Chairman’s Award is given to the employee who embodies all of the qualities of our Alliance Core Values, who achieves our goal of providing exceptional patient care, and is a consistently outstanding employee and colleague.

This year, Alliance’s Lead CMA/Corporate Trainer, Tangelia Washington, was honored with this award.

Here’s why:

“She has been there every step of the way with helping other employees strive for excellence. She is there any time you need her to be available when it comes to overcoming challenges. She gives love and understanding to those hurting and in need. 

Her skills do not end with her office work, she also projects a warm and kind attitude. She resolves conflicts and handles difficult tasks with patience and admirable tact. She goes out of her way to make sure her team is sharp and continues to grow in a very positive way.”

Congratulations to Dr. Pickens Patterson for being the first physician in the Camp Creek area to offer Vertiflex for patients with chronic low back pain.  Vertiflex is a minimally invasive FDA approved procedure for patients living with pain due to lumbar spinal stenosis. Learn more about the Vertiflex procedure here. 

Alliance is proud of Dr. Patterson and his team for bringing new hope and real relief to our patients in the Camp Creek community. With innovative interventional pain treatments, our best-in-class physicians are leading the way to the future of pain relief.

Four physicians from Alliance Spine and Pain Centers —the largest interventional pain management company in the Southeast— rank among metro Atlanta’s Top Doctors in Atlanta magazine’s July issue. More than half of the physicians in the publication’s pain medicine category come from this one practice. 

Those physicians are: Drs. David Gale, Allen Hord, and David Rosenfeld. Dr. Michael Schaufele appears in the physical medicine and rehabilitation category. All four of these physicians have been awarded the Top Doctors recognition in previous years.

Atlanta magazine uses a database of top doctors compiled by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., an established healthcare research company based in New York, to assist in its annual effort. Doctors are nominated for consideration through both a nationwide survey and a peer nomination process. Castle Connolly’s physician-led team of researchers then select the Top Doctors through a rigorous screening process that includes an evaluation of educational and professional experience. This year the publication honors 1,002 of these physicians representing the following counties: Fulton, Cobb, Dekalb, Gwinnett, Hall, Forsyth, Cherokee, and Rockdale counties.

Stephen Rosenbaum, CEO of Alliance Spine and Pain Centers, said the practice is proud to have these award-winning physicians on the Alliance team.

“To best handle chronic pain management, a reputable physician is key,” said Rosenbaum, CEO. “We consider our entire roster of best-in-class physicians leading the way for the future of pain relief. And they will continue providing real relief from chronic pain with groundbreaking quality standards that go beyond pain reduction to restoring functionality, independence, and quality of life.”

Dr. David Gale practices at the Marietta and Cartersville locations. Dr. Gale received his medical degree at Ohio State University. He completed his residency at Wilford Hall Medical Center Residency and fellowship at University of Texas at San Antonio. Dr. Gale is board certified in both anesthesiology and pain medicine, and he has an ABA subspecialty certificate in pain management. He belongs to the following professional organizations: American Society of Anesthesiologists; American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians; Georgia Society of Anesthesiologists; Georgia Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (executive director); International Spine Intervention Society; and North American Spine Society. Dr. Gale is a previous Top Doctor honoree.

Dr. Allen H. Hord practices at the Atlanta and Brookhaven locations. He has more than 30 years of pain management experience in the Atlanta area. Dr. Hord is a pioneer in the interventional pain management field, recognized by peers and patients as a chronic pain expert, educator, researcher, administrator, and philanthropist. He’s an expert in treatments including epidural injections, facet and medial branch blocks, radiofrequency ablation, sympathetic blocks, and spinal cord stimulation. He’s board certified in anesthesiology and was one of the first doctors in the U.S. to become board certified in pain medicine. Dr. Hord was Alliance Spine and Pain Centers’ chief medical officer from 2013-2018, and he’s currently chief medical officer for the practice. His philanthropy includes serving a decade on the board of directors of Flying Doctors America, organizing medical missions in Asia, South America, and Haiti. Since 2010, Dr. Hord has been recognized annually as a Top Doctor.

Dr. David J. Rosenfeld practices at the Atlanta and Covington locations. He has more than 25 years of expertise and innovation in pain management. He is recognized as a pioneer in Georgia for interventional pain procedures. He received his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Rosenfeld is fellowship trained, and board certified in both anesthesiology and pain medicine. He has published several studies on pain medicine and anesthesiology. Dr. Rosenfeld belongs to the following associations: American Society of Anesthesiologists; American Academy of Pain Medicine; and American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians. Since 2010, Dr. Rosenfeld has been recognized annually as a Top Doctor.

Dr. Michael K. Schaufele practices at the Marietta and Woodstock locations. He has more than 25 years of experience in non-surgical spine care and pain management. He was involved as an investigator in several pivotal clinical trials for spinal cord stimulation, vertebral augmentation, basivertebral nerve ablation, and various spinal injection procedures. Dr. Schaufele implements the wide spectrum of interventional pain procedures, including regenerative medicine injections to decrease his patients’ pain, improve function, and minimize dependence on opioids. He received his doctor of medicine degree from the Goethe-University in Frankfurt, Germany. Dr. Schaufele completed his physical medicine and rehabilitation residency at Harvard Medical School, and fellowship training at the Spine Center in Munich, Germany. As a former associate professor at Emory University, he served as residency program director and helped train numerous residents and fellows in physical medicine and rehabilitation, and pain medicine. Dr. Schaufele is a certified physician executive and served as chief medical officer for Alliance Spine and Pain Centers from 2018-2020. Dr. Schaufele is a commercially rated pilot and FAA aviation medical examiner, who flies medical missions for patients in need of medical transportation for Angel Flight. Since 2012, Dr. Schaufele has been recognized annually as an Atlanta Top Doctor.

Appointments can be made by calling 770-929-9033.