September 08, 2026
Provided Image/Penn Medicine
Madison Schmus, a Penn Medicine nurse who specializes in wound care and addiction medicine, is one of three nurses being recognized by Independence Blue Cross this year for providing outstanding care.
Madison Schmus, a Penn Medicine nurse who specializes in wound care and addiction treatment, started her healthcare career in the emergency department. She enjoyed her work, but she wasn't able to follow patients all the way through their care.
"The bigger picture is really important to me, because I think it's where we can do the most productive work with individuals, seeing that whole day to day with everyone," Schmus said.
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Now, Schmus is on a three-member team team from Penn's Center for Addiction Medicine and Policy that provides wraparound care for patients at Project Home's Sacred Heart Recovery Residence, a transitional living facility in Hunting Park.
For the last 1 1/2 years, Schmus has been helping patients with substance use disorders, who also have been homeless, navigate their varying medical concerns, including getting blood sugar under control, maintaining dialysis appointments and receiving treatment for hepatitis C. Schmus also helps patients access addiction treatment and stays in touch with them after they move into more permanent housing.
"We've been able to accomplish a lot in a very short period of time with patients who have substance use disorders," Schmus said.
Schmus also works with Philadelphia's Kensington Wellness Support Center, helping to evaluate, triage and advocate for people who have been arrested for low-level drug crimes and are being offered same-day onboarding to addiction treatment in lieu of prison time.
Schmus is one of three nurses that Independence Blue Cross honored this summer with a Sunshine Award. The award is part of IBX's annual Celebrate Caring campaign, an effort to highlight outstanding work among the region's 70,000 nurses.
"The Celebrate Caring campaign allows us to have a place for the community to share and submit their stories about spectacular nurses, while also highlighting the different types of nurses, the variety of settings they work in, and the growing diversity of the nursing workforce," Koleen Cavanaugh, IBX senior vice president and chief marketing officer, said in an email. "What I find incredible is that even though we are in our 8th year, we continue to get hundreds of nominations filled with love, gratitude, and admiration from managers, coworkers, mentees, patients, and families."
The Sunshine Award is named in memory of former IBX Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Paula Sunshine, who created the Celebrate Caring campaign to spotlight the critical role nurses play in patient care, Cavanaugh said.
Schmus embodies the award, one of her nominators said, by establishing "strong and trusting relationships with her patients, helping them achieve sobriety, maintain recovery, and return to healthier, more stable lives through compassionate, high-quality health care."
Taking a harm reduction approach – being nonjudgemental and helping patients access treatment when they are ready for it – is a crucial element of her work, Schmus said.
"The ability to keep someone safe and and keep someone educated on their use and their disease process and keep them well supported gives them such a such a smoother transition to maybe a lifestyle change whenever they're ready," Schmus said. "I've had so many patients who one day wake up and they're like, 'You know, Madison, I'm ready to start making some healthier changes.' Knowing that they have support regardless of where they are in their journey is so important."
This year's Sunshine Award winners also include Sarah Bruno, an emergency room nurse at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who started a program that provides clothes to patients leaving the hospital for foster care. In another act of kindness, Bruno helped a pediatric oncology patient dress up in the hospital as a flower girl for her uncle's wedding, so that she could be part of the celebration during her treatment.
Ian Montgomery, a nurse at Virtua Marlton Hospital, is the third Sunshine Award recipient. He started an education initiative to reduce blood-borne pathogen exposures and has worked to advance fall prevention and clinical safety efforts. In addition to his work with patients, Montgomery is pursuing an advanced nursing degree and master's degree in business administration.
