In this age of "if it bleeds, it leads" journalism and the seemingly endless, negative presidential campaign that has only begun to get ugly, it's way too easy to become jaded, cynical and even isolated.

Is that what's got you down, bunkee? Well, please allow me to offer the perfect antidote.

Go to the Small Business Times Health Care Heroes Awards Breakfast on Thursday, Dec. 6.

If you do, I promise, you will leave feeling a lot better about humanity.

This will be the fourth year we've presented the Health Care Heroes program. Taking place in December, it is becoming a Milwaukee holiday tradition.

Along the way, we've learned the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

They're changing the dressings on wounds. They're helping elderly shut-ins get through the day. They're conducting leading edge research for cures. They're performing medical missions in Third World countries. They're volunteering their time and their talents. They're saving the world one compassionate act at a time. As The Man once said, they're doing it for "the least of my brethren."

We salute this year's Health Care Heroes:

Physician

• Steven Leuthner, M.D., Medical Director -- Fetal Concerns Program Children's Hospital of Wisconsin/Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Birth Center, Wauwatosa.
• Paul Durbin, M.D., Physician-Internal (Adult) Medicine -- Wheaton Franciscan Medical Group, Racine.

Nurse

• Pamela Occhetti-Sholund, I.V. R.N. Case Manager -- Horizon Home Care & Hospice, Mequon.
• Robert Leuck, Registered Nurse - Wheaton Franciscan Hospitals, Waukesha.

Advancements in Health Care

• Jen Nowak, Director, Adult Day Services -- LutheranLiving Services, Wauwatosa.
• Dr. John Heinrich, Orthopedic Surgeon -- Milwaukee Orthopaedic Group Ltd./Milwaukee Bucks, Milwaukee.

Health Care Staff

• Caldonia Washington, Resident Assistant/CNA -- Premier Care Centers, Mequon.

Community Service

• Nzinga Khalid, Member Advocate -- Independent Care Health Plan, Milwaukee.
• Christine Boyce, Director of Pediatric Special Care Unit -- Milwaukee Center for Independence, Milwaukee.

Corporate Achievement in Health Care

• Dianne Kiehl, Executive Director -- Business Health Care Group, Franklin.
• Kalpana "Rose" Kumar, M.D., CEO & Founder -- Ommani Center for Integrative Medicine, Pewaukee.

Volunteer

• Dr. Ron Pruhs and Ronnie Pruhs, R.N., Retired Chairman of Pediatric Dentistry and nurse -- Marquette University School of Dentistry, Milwaukee.
• Ermin Humpal, Volunteer -- Clement Manor Nursing Home, Hales Corners Leadership in Health Care.

Leadership in Health Care

• Michael Dunn, M.D., Executive Vice President & Dean -- Medical College of Wisconsin, Wauwatosa.
• Arvid "Dick" Tillmar, Partner and Wellness Advocate -- Diversified Insurance Services, Waukesha.

I want to personally thank our distinguished panel of judges who selected the winners of the Health Care Heroes Awards from a field of more than 50 nominees. The judges were: Dr. Randall Lambrecht, dean of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Department of Health Sciences; Karen Ordinans, executive director of the Children's Health Alliance of Wisconsin; Dr. Sarah Pratt, a pediatrician who is the past president of the Medical Society of Milwaukee County Board of Directors and a past member of the Wisconsin Medical Society Board of Directors; and Connie Roethel, R.N., wellness expert and president of Core Health Group in Mequon.

The Health Care Heroes will be honored at a breakfast on Thursday, Dec. 6, at the Italian Community Center in Downtown Milwaukee. WISN news anchor Patrick Paolantonio will emcee the program.

The public is invited to attend the breakfast to celebrate these achievements in health care. For additional information about the event, call Sarah Wilson at (414) 277-8181, ext. 129, or visit http://www.biztimes.com/biztimes/HCHeroes2007.reg.pdf.

If you go to the breakfast, I promise that you'll get a spiritual, holiday lift from this program.