LAMC Selects Jennifer King for 2021 Mercy Award

Los Alamos Medical Center (LAMC) has announced that Jennifer King has been recognized as the hospital’s 2021 Mercy Award winner.

The Mercy Award recognizes one employee from each of LifePoint Health’s hospitals who profoundly touches the lives of others and best represents the spirit and values on which the company was founded.

King is recognized for demonstrating compassion and unwavering commitment to helping others.

The Mercy Award is an annual recognition program established in 2002 to honor the life and contributions of Scott Mercy, LifePoint’s founding chairman and chief executive officer. The award is considered the highest honor a LifePoint employee can receive.

Letter From LAMC Chair of Surgery Justin Green, MD, PhD, MBA, FACS 

Dear Mercy Award Committee members:
It is with great pleasure that I write to you today in support of Ms. Jennifer King as the Los Medical Center 2021 Mercy Award nominee. It is been my privilege to know Ms. King and to interact with her in various capacities over the last two and half years. Ms. King is currently Director of Quality and Patient Safety for Los Alamos Medical Center (LAMC) and in that capacity, I have come to know her quite well. Ms. King’s service to the patients and staff of LAMC is outstanding. She is a tireless advocate for patient safety and has been instrumental in developing and implementing numerous programs that support a culture of safety within our institution. In addition to following all of the numerical data regarding clinical outcomes and patient safety, she has developed several educational programs and initiatives that have significantly improved patient safety and patient satisfaction. Her efforts contributed directly to decreasing our number of patient “harms” from seventeen the previous year to only three this year. Her ability to analyze data and think critically has facilitated a significant improvement in the interaction between her programs and the medical staff peer review process. Her work during the recent Joint Commission survey of the clinical laboratory was instrumental in assuring a successful survey. During the COVID 19 pandemic, her efforts were key in developing a comprehensive visitor and staff screening program to insure the safety of everyone within the facility. She also spearheaded the COVID-19 vaccination program for all staff members at LAMC, all medical providers in the greater Los Alamos area and for the outpatient community vaccine clinics here at LAMC. Specifically, she implemented a program to identify “vaccine orphans”, namely those patients who qualified for vaccination but were somehow neglected by the State vaccination program. This allowed a significant number of otherwise neglected, elderly/high risk individuals to be identified and successfully vaccinated.
In addition to a fantastic work ethic on behalf of the patients and staff of LAMC, Ms. King is a model healthcare professional. She is kind and compassionate in all endeavors. She is approachable and always ready to offer a smile and whatever help may be needed. She is honest, humble, and forthright and is an outstanding role model for any healthcare provider. These fine attributes are manifest, not only in the work environment here at the hospital, but also within our community. She is in enthusiastic and selfless volunteer in several community service organizations and youth sports organizations. She is an ideal ambassador and representative for our facility and the medical profession to the community.
In short, Ms. King epitomizes the ideals of the Mercy Award and she puts those attributes to work every day in service to LAMC and the community. I cannot imagine a more deserving or qualified recipient for the 2021 Mercy award. Thank you for your consideration of this fine young woman.
Warm regards,

Justin L. Green MD PhD MBA FACS
Consultant in General and Thoracic Surgery, Surgical Oncology and Surgical Critical Care
Los Alamos Surgical Associates at Los Alamos Medical Center