INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Indiana Hospital Association (IHA) is pleased to announce three health care leaders have been named recipients of the first annual Patient Safety Awards given by the Indiana Patient Safety Center. The awards, honoring commitment and enthusiasm for improving patient safety in hospitals across the state, were presented on June 7 at IHA’s Indiana Patient Safety Summit.

Laura Fuller, adult health clinical nurse specialist at Franciscan St. Anthony Health – Michigan City, received the Patient Safety Innovation Award for developing innovative strategies to decrease harm in sepsis. Through the Emergency Department Sepsis Alert initiative, Fuller helped pioneer Code Sepsis at Franciscan St. Anthony Health, increasing the hospital’s early identification of sepsis patients by 96 percent.

Shelby Morse, executive director of quality and performance improvement at Elkhart General Hospital, received the Patient Safety Service and Leadership Award for exemplary service and dedication to quality and patient safety. Morse leads employee engagement at Elkhart General Hospital to improve risk management, patient safety, infection prevention, quality reporting and performance improvement.

James Fuller, president of the Indianapolis Coalition for Patient Safety (ICPS), received the Patient Safety Partner of the Year Award for his leadership partnering with hospitals in Indianapolis and surrounding counties to improve quality care. Under Fuller’s guidance at ICPS, Indianapolis hospitals have achieved accelerated outcomes in patient safety by sharing resources, performance targets, accountability and funding.

“Laura, Shelby and James have dedicated their careers to making Indiana the safest place to receive health care in the nation,” said Doug Leonard, president of IHA. “It’s an honor to present the inaugural Patient Safety Awards to these deserving health care leaders. Together we continue to work toward our statewide collective goal of zero patient harms.”

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of IHA’s Indiana Patient Safety Center, which supports a network of 11 regional patient safety coalitions throughout the state, working daily with Indiana hospitals and other health care providers to improve the safety and quality of Hoosier care.

The annual Indiana Patient Safety Summit brings together patient safety and quality leaders to share best practices to prevent patient harms and reduce hospital readmissions statewide.