For Immediate Release

Mercy Names Foster and Akins as New VPs

Oklahoma City—Judy Akins has been named Mercy Health System of Oklahoma’s vice president of marketing and corporate communications, and Paul Foster has been named Mercy Health Center’s vice president of finance.

Akins has directed marketing and corporate communications for Mercy Health System of Oklahoma since 1989. She has been integral in many of Mercy’s outstanding accomplishments, including Mercy’s journey to
Magnet—the gold standard in nursing care. She was awarded a 2006 “Friend of Nursing” award by the Oklahoma Nurses Association for her role in supporting Mercy nursing services for Magnet.

Foster, a CPS, CIA, MBA, came to Mercy in 2005 as Mercy Health System of Oklahoma’s controller/director of finance. Since then he has served in various roles, including interim chief financial officer. Paul has a wealth of financial healthcare experience and has been a major player in Mercy’s software integrations.

“Both Paul and Judy are very valuable to our team,” said Di Smalley, CEO and president of Mercy Health System of Oklahoma. “They will continue to lead Mercy in new ways. We are very fortunate to have them as leaders.”

Press release dated: August 8, 2008
 

Mercy Health Center, the first 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.