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LMH Health's main campus at 325 Maine St.

The LMH Health Foundation honored several local residents with awards for supporting the hospital’s mission through their philanthropy or service to provide care for all.

The foundation announced in a press release Monday that the foundation celebrated five recipients for its 19th annual Elizabeth Watkins Community Caring Awards. The awards went to Dr. Jon and Barb Heeb; Harry and Cindy Herington; Dick and Sue Himes; Prakash and Cathy Shenoy and Cindy Yulich.

Amy Northrop, the annual giving manager for the LMH Health Foundation, told the Journal-World the awards were named after Elizabeth Miller Watkins, a prominent philanthropist in Lawrence in the 1900s who helped found Lawrence Memorial Hospital. Northrop said Watkins included a stipulation for the hospital’s founding that no person should be excluded from care on “account of race, or physical, social or financial condition.” Northrop said the honorees of this award have made contributions to ensure everyone is being served.

“(The awards) go to people who have been meaningful to (LMH) to recognize them for all they do to make sure our friends and neighbors have access to high quality care,” Northrop said.

Northrop noted the winners of the awards have helped LMH through a variety of different ways, including through monetary support, service as an employee or serving on one of the organization’s boards.

• The Heebs both are lifelong Lawrence residents who felt “very close to the hospital,” according to Northrop. Jon is a urologist on staff at LMH and had served as the chief of staff, and she said the family had long given philanthropically in the community, including to LMH. Northrop noted Barb’s mother was an nurse at LMH for years as well, so it is an institution “very near and dear to their heart.”

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Dr. Jon and Barb Heeb

• The Heringtons were honored in part for “stepping up” in the hospital’s campaign to construct the new heart center, according to Nothrop. As the Journal-World reported, the couple gave $5 million in May 2025 for helping expand the center, and Northrop said the couple “felt compelled” to give that money to expand cardiac care because they had lost friends and family to heart disease.

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Cindy and Harry Herington

• The Himeses are other longtime Lawrence residents who helped support LMH. Northrop said they had been “quiet donors” for a number of years, making sure the hospital can get “whatever they need.” The pair were also active in serving the community in other ways, with Dick volunteering with the Trinity Interfaith Food Pantry and Sue volunteering for organizations like CASA and United Way.

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Dick and Sue Himes

• The Shenoys are “strong and vocal” supporters of LMH, according to Northrop, and Cathy served on the Foundation board for a number of years, helping make sure the gifts are “being used to the highest potential.” Along with that service, the couple gave financial support to LMH campaigns like the Health Cancer Center expansion.

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Cathy and Prakash Shenoy

• Yulich served on the hospital’s Board of Trustees and the foundation’s Board of Directors for many years. Northrop said her award was about the “leadership” she gave to the hospital, and Yulich helped navigate struggles during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the expansion of LMH Health Center West.

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Cindy Yulich

Northrop said all five recipients are people “who go above and beyond to transform and escalate high quality health care for our community.”