For Immediate Release
 Mercy Execs, Docs and Co-workers Shift Gears (Literally) to Go Green
Oklahoma City—Many mornings before 5 a.m., Mercy’s Chief Financial
Officer Jim Newman wakes up and heads to work on his Schwinn Prelude
bicycle, making a 12.5-mile trek from Edmond to Mercy. A little later in
the morning, John Harkess, M.D., Mercy infectious disease specialist,
jumps on his bike and also pedals from Edmond to Mercy. In an effort to
be good to the environment, Mercy executives, physicians and co-workers
are shifting gears, literally, to go green.
“For me, it’s about the environment, staying healthy and feeling
energized every day,” said Newman. “I hate driving my car into work. I
feel so much better when I bike to work. There’s no better way to start
the day.”
Dr. Harkess echoes the sentiment: “On the days I can ride my bike to
work, I save a gallon of gas, there’s less CO2 in the air, I feel fit
and ready to go and I don’t have to pay the doggone toll.”
In that same green vein, Mercy’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff
Johnston recently sent a letter to Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett—the
advocate for a slimmer and healthier Oklahoma City—to enquire if the
city will establish safe bicycle lanes and paths in the northwest area.
“An increasing number of Mercy co-workers are interested in commuting
to Mercy by bicycle but their hesitation is that there aren’t any safe
bike lanes in place around the city,” said Johnston. “While Oklahoma
City isn’t considered a pedestrian city, it’s becoming more and more
important to find greener ways to commute to work. It not only helps the
planet by decreasing pollution, it also creates healthier co-workers
which in turn decreases Oklahoma’s health care costs. And of course,
there is also the issue of gasoline prices continuing to escalate.”
While some Mercy co-workers are commuting by bicycle, others have
opted to get to work by scooter or motorcycle.
“I was driving a mini van that gets 22 miles per gallon and I decided
to get a scooter this summer that gets 70 to 75 miles to the gallon,”
said Edmond’s Brenda Wood, RN, Mercy’s quality management coordinator
and mother of three. “I didn’t want to keep paying absurd gasoline
prices. Because I’m a mom, I couldn’t get rid of my mini van, but
whenever I can, I take my scooter whether it’s to work, the grocery
store or to pick up one of my kids from school.”
Some Mercy co-workers have come up with other ways to save on gas and
help the environment. Current efforts are also underway to put a
hospital-wide carpool bulletin board online for Mercy co-workers. And
while Mercy gears up its green efforts across the hospital, more and
more co-workers’ personal green stories come to light. Mercy’s newly
hired Recycling Technician Scott Connolly, an Edmondite, is building a
geothermal home with his wife Marie Connolly, RNC, a Mercy neonatal
intensive care nurse for almost 30 years.
“There is just a lot of green activity at Mercy and it continues to
grow as more and more people find ways to be good stewards of our
planet,” said Johnston.
Press release dated: September 18, 2008
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