Douglas Johnstone, M.D., and Shelley Voelz, R.N., were cited for their overall leadership in the patient safety program at St. Francis. Johnstone is medical director of quality and patient safety. Voelz is director of standards compliance and patient safety.
Voelz is credited for creating an “excellent structure and environment” for patient safety, consistent with the hospital and Franciscan Alliance (formerly Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc.) values. She leads the patient safety and regulatory compliance programs, incorporating them into the hospital’s goal of providing a safe clinical environment; and conducts rounds with clinical and administrative staff.
She also is active in clinical and safety issues in the larger community. She has been one of the driving forces behind St. Thomas More Clinic in Mooresville, a facility providing free care to the needy, uninsured and medically underserved in that area since 2005.
A nephrologist, Johnstone is known for his ability to bring evidenced-based medicine to the patient’s bedside for hospital physicians and staff, ICPS officials said. He has spearheaded safety- and quality-related measures and has served as co-chair of the hospital’s Institutional Review Board (oversees all facets of the hospital’s clinical trials), past president of the medical staff, and chairs the medical staff and quality improvement committee for St. Francis’ Central Indiana Regional Board of Directors.
“Our hospital’s patients and families, staff members, physicians and volunteers have been touched by these patient safety activists,” said Robert J. Brody, St. Francis president and chief executive officer, who presented the awards to Johnstone and Voelz at a recent ICPS ceremony.
Established in 2003, the Indianapolis Coalition for Patient Safety is a public-private partnership of health-care leaders committed to patient safety efforts. For more information, go to www.indypatientsafety.org.
Brody is a member of the coalition’s board of directors. Donald Kerner, M.D., former chief medical officer at St. Francis, is a co-founder of the organization.
