For Immediate Release

March 9, 2007

Mercy Names 25 Pillars of Mercy

Oklahoma City — Mercy Health Center recently named 25 of its 2,600 co-workers as Pillars of Mercy—an award that reflects the compassionate care Mercy Foundress Catherine McAuley exemplified almost 200 years ago.

“We wanted to recognize some of the people who live the Mercy spirit day in and day out,” said Jeff Johnston, Mercy interim CEO. “There’s no higher honor than this. We called the award the Pillars of Mercy because pillars support the greatest structures of the world. They stand alongside each other and hold up enormous loads.”

Besides reflecting the spirit and values of Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy, the recipients also exhibit the nine Mercy service standards which include treating everyone as a valued individual and possessing a positive attitude.

More than 120 co-workers were nominated by their peers, and after reviewing and scoring the stories submitted about each nominee, the committee named the following as Pillars of Mercy. Those who reside in Oklahoma City include: Carla Alexander, Security; Tom Bonadio, Information Services; Pat Carhillo, Health Information Management; Stephen Clayton, Materiel Management; Maria Diaz, Registration; Melissa Dobbs, Convent; Mason Floyd, Patient Accounts; David Johnson, Pastoral Care; Mark Knox, D.O., Mercy Health Northwest Family Clinic; Kathi Miller, Diabetes Education; Kevin Murphy, Chemistry Lab; Duane Snavely, Hospice; Jason Weigel, Food & Nutrition. Edmond recipients include: Rebecca Barnett, Nursing Administration; Sandy Kinman, BirthPlace; Cindy Taylor, Respiratory; Amy Thomas, Outpatient Physical Therapy; Kathy Thompson, Radiology. Guthrie: Don Ledington, Lab Administration; Diane Nelson, After Hours; McLoud: Mickey McElyea, Facilities. Midwest City: Matt Jordan, Clinical Engineering. Perry: Katherine Adaire, Mercy Central. Yukon: Amy Hobbs, Radiation Oncology; Kay Oglesby, NeuroScience Institute.

Award recipients were recognized at a dinner this month at the Mercy NeuroScience Institute.

Mercy Health Center, the only Magnet hospital in Oklahoma and among only 3 percent of hospitals in the nation to be awarded Magnet status, is a member of Mercy Health System of Oklahoma and the Sisters of Mercy Health System. Magnet-designated facilities: report higher patient satisfaction rates, deliver better patient outcomes, provide more nursing care at the bedside of patients and consistently outperform non-magnet organizations.