The quick action and steady leadership exhibited by Susanne Phillips from the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted thousands of lives.

The clinical professor at the UCI Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing will be honored for her work at the Celebration of Heroes this week.

Phillips joins 79 other honorees — scientists, healthcare professionals and everyday individuals — as they are honored for heroic actions they took during the pandemic.

In a nomination letter, a colleague writes:

“Susie was one of the first clinicians to throw herself into the front lines at the start of the pandemic. She served as the clinical partner to UCI Health, when it was decided to launch a COVID-19 drive-thru testing site in a mere three days.

When the site opened in March 2020 it was the first Orange County drive-thru testing site open to the entire community, even those without the ability to pay. Susie herself worked majority of the shifts swabbing dozens of patients daily. Two additional sites were opened shortly after.

Almost two years later, Susie still works some shifts. To date, UCI Health has provided over 63,000 COVID-19 tests. Then when the vaccine became available, Susie brought her team from the School of Nursing to volunteer alongside UCI Health, providing shots to the entire community. To date, UCI Health has provided 146,000 vaccinations.

Susie co-lead much of these efforts while maintaining her regular duties as an Associate Dean, Clinical Affairs and Clinical Professor for UCI’s School of Nursing.”

Support the UCI Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing: For more information, to support a future nurse or nurse-led research, please connect to Juliana Goswick, Director of Development at jgoswick@hs.uci.edu.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu