Southwestern Medical Center Names 2021 Mercy Award Winner

2021 Mercy Award winner Darren Abshire, pharmacy director at SWMC, and his wife Kayla live in Bray, Oklahoma with their sons Kaeden and Riley who both attend high school in Velma-Alma.

Southwestern Medical Center recently announced that Darren Abshire, PharmD 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.

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.

“At Southwestern Medical Center, we share LifePoint’s commitment to making communities healthier, and we recognize this is supported by the good work and service of our employees on and off the job,” said Elizabeth Jones, CEO of Southwestern Medical Center. “Darren would say any success he has had is due to good teamwork. But every good team needs a great leader and that’s exactly what Darren is. He works hard and he cares about his fellow employees, his patients and his community.”

During the past year, Abshire spent countless hours working with vendors to ensure the hospital maintained the appropriate inventory of essential medications needed to treat patients and ensuring SWMC medical staff stay informed on changes in treatment recommendations. Darren was also instrumental in the preparation and execution of SWMC’s vaccine clinics. His knowledge and effective communication with the Oklahoma State Department of Health was key to a very successful rollout of vaccines to SWMC team members and the community. 

Each hospital winner, including Darren, will be considered for LifePoint’s 2021 companywide Mercy Award. The companywide winner will be announced this summer and honored during a ceremony in Nashville, Tenn., in August, to which Darren and all hospital winners are invited to attend.

Darren and his wife Kayla live in Bray, Oklahoma with their sons Kaeden and Riley who both attend high school in Velma-Alma.