Columbus social worker to receive lifetime achievement award

COLUMBUS, Neb. -- Theresa Hilton, social services director at Columbus Community Hospital, will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Workers, Nebraska Chapter.

The award honors those who are dedicated to the profession and ethics of social work. Individuals who receive the award are viewed by their peers and colleagues to have gone above and beyond expectations throughout their professional social work career.

Hilton will receive the award at the annual conference held Sept. 17, 2021, during the awards luncheon.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is an opportunity for the organization to honor those who are in many ways the matriarchs and patriarchs of the Nebraska social work community.

"Theresa is very deserving of this award," said Mike Hansen, president and CEO at the hospital. "She has been a dedicated leader in our hospital for almost 40 years, often going above and beyond to help people in every possible way."

Hilton has served as director of patient and outreach services at the hospital since 1984. In her 37 years, she has been director of the medical social work department, interpreter services department, Lifeline program, Healthy Families program and Child Life Specialist program.

Before working at the hospital, she received her bachelor's and master's degrees in social work from the University of Nebraska Omaha. 

During her career in social work, Hilton has been involved in countless professional and community organizations, including the Nebraska Society for Social Work Leadership in Healthcare, the Nebraska Minority Public Health Association, the Central Nebraska Area Health Education Center Board, the Family Resource Center Board, the Nebraska Medical Association Telehealth Committee, the ECDHD Board of Health and the Community & Family Partnership, among others.

In 1994, she received the Athena Award from the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce for outstanding business or professional woman in the community.  In 2000, she received the Social Worker of the Year award from the Nebraska Society for Social Work Leadership in Healthcare. 

The Lifetime Achievement Award is one of several awards that will be presented during the luncheon. It’s the 33rd year the organization will present the Lifetime Achievement Award to an outstanding Nebraska social worker.  

NASW-NE is a state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the largest professional association of social workers in the United States. It has members employed as social workers in medical facilities, correctional institutions, schools, non-profit agencies and private therapists, among other settings.