For Immediate Release

Mercy Pharmacist Awarded

Oklahoma City — Burl Beasley, Mercy Health Center clinical pharmacist, was one of 41 hospital employees from across the state to receive an Oklahoma Hospital Association (OHA) Spirit of Achievement Award. The award, given at the November OHA annual convention in Oklahoma City, was in recognition of his significant commitment to reduce the number of medication-related falls and their injuries.

Common medications given in the hospital can increase the risk of falling because of sedation, dizziness and impaired cognition. Beasley, along with an interdisciplinary team including physicians, nursing staff, nursing administration and pharmacists, tackled the problem head on. Beasley developed a medication fall scale to rate medicines in terms of fall risk, something that had never been done before. Mercy tested the scale and designed it to comply with the Joint Commission’s National Patient Safety Goals

“We are proud of Burl’s leadership efforts to reduce the number of fall-related injuries,” said Jim Gebhart, Mercy Health Center president. “The development of the medication fall scale will continue to have a great impact on quality healthcare in the future.”

Press release dated: December 21, 2009

Mercy Health Center, the first Magnet hospital in Oklahoma, 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.