Two nurses at St. Charles Madras have been recognized with one of the most respected honors in the nursing profession: the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses.
Will Bean, director of patient care services, and Jennifer Johnson, a perioperative nurse, were among eight St. Charles Health System nurses honored with the award this past May. Both have dedicated decades to healthcare in Jefferson County.
About the DAISY Foundation
The DAISY (Diseases Attacking the Immune SYstem) Foundation was established by the family of J. Patrick Barnes, who died in 1999 after complications from an autoimmune disease. The Barnes family created the foundation to publicly recognize nurses for the extraordinary care they provide — the kind of care Barnes received in his final days.
Will Bean: Three Decades of Service
Bean has served as director of patient care services at St. Charles Madras since 1991. His path to nursing was set in part by a serious injury during his time in the Navy that landed him in an intensive care unit for an extended period.
“I had already kind of had a wondering what I was going to do when I got out,” Bean said. Watching the skilled and dedicated nurses who cared for him — many of them male, at a time when that was uncommon — pointed him toward healthcare.
Bean worked at what was then Mountain View Hospital before it joined the St. Charles Health System in 2013. He described the transition as challenging but ultimately the right move.
“Moving to St. Charles was a challenge,” he said. “But it was, looking back, definitely the right move. We were struggling as a small hospital. Now new equipment is definitely an option.”
Bean also praised the increased collaboration that comes from being part of a larger health system, while noting the importance of maintaining Madras’s community-centered identity.
Jennifer Johnson: Perioperative Excellence
Johnson, a perioperative nurse, has similarly built her career at the Madras facility over many years. Details of her recognition reflect the same commitment to patient-centered care that defines the DAISY Award criteria.
The recognition comes at a moment of growth for St. Charles Madras and the broader local healthcare landscape, including COCC’s new nursing programs at the Madras campus, which began accepting applications for its new Bachelor of Science in Nursing program on June 1, 2026. Healthcare workforce development is increasingly a regional priority.