CoxHealth director honored with national award

Eric Clay, system director of Public Safety and Security at CoxHealth, has been honored with the Phillip A. Gaffney Faculty Chair Award. Clay has been with CoxHealth since 2014, and leads the system’s Public Safety team that provides security for more than 12,000 employees, patients and visitors.

Given by the International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety (IAHSS) Foundation, the award was presented to Clay at the organization’s annual conference in Orlando in May. It exists to honor an individual for exemplifying and advancing purposes of the foundation through achievement in the profession.

Its criteria include:

- The promotion and development of education research in the maintenance and improvement of health care security, safety or risk management.

- The acquisition, compilation and dissemination of resources, research material and publication in the field of health care security and safety administration.

- Development and presentation of educational programs in the fields of health care security, safety or risk management.

- Publishing of educational papers, books, articles or treatise in the fields of health care security, safety or risk management.

- Recommendations for design and construction of health care facilities that best exemplify state-of-the-art technology and principles of health care security, safety or risk management.

In addition to Clay's award, CoxHealth was also recognized as a Program of Distinction by IAHSS in 2019, making it the only health care system in Missouri to receive the honor.

According to the organization’s website, to qualify as a IAHSS Program of Distinction, 70 percent of an organization’s security officers must hold a current basic, advanced or supervisor certification and the director or administrative leader of the security department must also be a current Certified Healthcare Protection Administrator (CHPA).

At CoxHealth, this figure is 100 percent.

Photo, from left to right: Bonnie Michelman, president of IAHSS Foundation; Eric Clay, system director of Public Safety and Security at CoxHealth; and Edwin Stedman, a longstanding member of the IAHSS Foundation.