Northwell’s Mather Hospital announced that its Critical Care Team has received its second gold-level Beacon Award for Excellence from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). The hospital’s 2 South Oncology Unit also earned a gold-level Beacon Award for the first time. More than 575 units nationwide applied for the award in 2025.
The Beacon Award for Excellence recognizes unit caregivers who improve patient outcomes and align with AACN’s six Healthy Work Environment Standards. Units receive gold, silver, or bronze designations based on criteria established by the AACN, which focus on aspects of the unit environment that nurses can influence to achieve nursing excellence.
“We are incredibly proud of both our Critical Care Team and our 2 South Oncology Unit for earning the Beacon Award for Excellence,” said Tara Matz, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, Mather Hospital CNO/VP for Nursing. “For our Critical Care Team to achieve gold level recognition a second time underscores their consistent dedication to the highest standards of care. And for our 2 South Oncology team to earn this gold-level recognition for the first time is a testament to their unwavering commitment to our oncology patients and their families. These awards reflect the hard work, collaboration and expertise of our entire nursing staff and interdisciplinary teams, directly benefiting the health and well-being of our community.”
AACN President Rebekah Marsh, BSN, RN, CCRN, commended Mather Hospital’s caregivers: “These dedicated healthcare professionals join other members of our exceptional community of nurses, who set the standard for optimal patient care.”
Beacon-awarded units stand out by excelling in areas such as patient outcomes, nursing workforce, and work environment. Participation in the program allows units to compare their performance globally; differences between scoring levels can be as little as one point.
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses is recognized as the world’s largest specialty nursing organization with about 130,000 members across more than 200 chapters in the United States. It has promoted acute and critical care nursing excellence for over five decades.
Mather Hospital is an accredited non-profit teaching hospital with 249 beds serving Suffolk County residents. The hospital has been recognized with a five-star rating from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services multiple times and received Magnet recognition three times from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. U.S. News & World Report rated Mather high performing in several specialties in its 2025-2026 Best Hospitals rankings. Healthgrades named it one of America’s 250 best hospitals from 2023 through 2025 and awarded it Outstanding Patient Experience Award five years running.
Northwell Health operates as a not-for-profit health system serving New York and Connecticut through 28 hospitals and over 1,000 outpatient facilities. Northwell employs more than 104,000 people including over 22,000 nurses and more than 20,000 physicians.
