Vanessa King, PharmD, MBA, Director of Pharmacy at Central Carolina Hospital (CCH), has been honored with the Mercy Award for 2025. This award is presented by Lifepoint Health and is named after Scott Mercy, the founding Chairman and first CEO of Lifepoint. The award recognizes individuals who advance the corporation’s mission and embody its humanitarian spirit.
Dave Santoemma, CEO of CCH, presented the award to Vanessa King in a ceremony attended by her Pharmacy Department staff and fellow department directors. Sarah Rick, Director of Quality, Patient Safety and Risk Management, along with Elizabeth “Betsy” Jungkind, BSN, ACM-RN, Director of Case Management, nominated Vanessa for this honor.
“Vanessa’s exemplary leadership, commitment to patient safety and ability to create a positive and empowering work culture significantly enhance the quality of care we provide,” wrote Sarah Rick in her nomination letter. Betsy Jungkind added in her nomination that Vanessa is dedicated not only to her director position but also to her team and colleagues.
As a recipient of the local Mercy Award at CCH, Vanessa will be considered among other winners from individual Lifepoint facilities for the company-wide Mercy Award. Sixty semi-finalists will be invited to a special event at Lifepoint corporate headquarters in Nashville, TN. The overall corporate winner will be announced in August.
