MCHD observes World Patient Safety Day 09.17.25
September 17, 2025
MCHD observes World Patient Safety Day
MOBILE, Ala. — Today is World Patient Safety Day. This is an opportunity to raise public awareness, foster collaboration between stakeholders, and mobilize global action to improve patient safety.
This year the theme is “Safe care for every newborn and every child,” with the slogan “Patient safety from the start!” This is recognizing the vulnerability of this age group to risks and harm caused by unsafe care.
The Mobile County Health Department (MCHD) and Family Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center accredited by The Joint Commission and covered under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), is pleased to announce the creation of a new Clinical Risk Manager position. This role, which has been filled by Trixie Bush, is designed to enhance patient safety and clinical quality across all service areas, while complementing the agency’s established Life Safety Officer, who focuses on facility and environmental safety.
Bush has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in Healthcare Administration and a master’s degree in business management from Faulkner University. She has been with MCHD since 2021, having started in the Performance Improvement department.
“By adding this dedicated position, MCHD reinforces its commitment to ensuring the highest standards of safety, compliance, and care for the community it serves,” said Dr. Kevin Michaels, Health Officer for Mobile County.
The Clinical Risk Manager will lead initiatives including patient safety audits, incident reporting, staff education, and continuous quality improvement aligned with FTCA and Joint Commission standards. The addition of this role will allow MCHD to expand its focus from facility safety to the clinical side of risk management, ensuring that every patient interaction reflects our dedication to quality and safety.
“This investment in patient safety demonstrates the Mobile County Health Department’s ongoing mission to deliver safe, reliable, and compassionate care to every client,” Bush said.
MCHD has several other departments focused on patient safety. MCHD’s Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) Program was established in 1998 to identify critical community strengths and weaknesses, as well as unique health and social issues, associated with poor outcomes of pregnancy. In 2024, the coordinator received 48 fetal and infant mortality cases for review and began entering these cases into the new ADPH National Database.
On January 1, 2008, new rules for the construction, operation and maintenance of child daycare centers that were adopted by the Mobile County Board of Health went into effect. This made Mobile County the first county in Alabama with such rules to ensure the safety and well-being of the most vulnerable, our children in daycare centers. Up until 2018, Mobile County was only one of two counties in the state that looked at church-exempt daycares.