Leaders Chosen from St. Joseph Hospital, Clinic Pharmacy, Allegheny Health Network
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has awarded the 2026 Judy Smetzer Just Culture Champion Scholarship to three healthcare leaders who have embraced the hallmarks and impact of fostering a just culture in healthcare.
Provided in cooperation with The Just Culture Company, the scholarships give recipients access to resources to help them learn to manage staff behavioral choices, design resilient systems, reduce risk, and build a values based culture. Recipients are enrolled in the Just Culture Certification Course, which helps healthcare practitioners strengthen fair accountability principles and implement system improvements that advance patient safety and workforce wellbeing. Winners also receive a one year license to the Just Culture Conduct Course and access to the Just Culture Assessment Tool (JCAT).
This year’s scholarship recipients work in a range of practice settings, representing a community-based hospital, a retail and long-term care pharmacy, and a large academic health network. The 2026 full scholarship recipients are:
Charles Arena, Jr., PharmD, BCSCP
Pharmacy Manager
St. Joseph Hospital
Nashua, NH
Mindy Jalbert, PharmD
Assistant Manager
Clinic Pharmacy
Dickinson, ND
Colleen (Burns) Scarantine, MS, RRT, CPPS
PSO Manager, Patient Safety, East Region
Allegheny Health Network
Pittsburgh, PA
The 2026 Judy Smetzer Just Culture Champion Scholarship recipients were selected from a large and highly competitive pool of qualified applicants seeking to strengthen their roles as champions of the just culture model within their organizations. Selection criteria included demonstrated leadership and interdisciplinary collaboration, commitment to educating staff on just culture principles, and the potential to influence organizational culture in meaningful and lasting ways.
This year six partial scholarship winners were also selected in recognition of their outstanding applications and will receive a one-year license to the Just Culture Conduct Course and a 30-day license to the JCAT. They also will receive a 50% discount for the Just Culture Certification Course.
This year’s partial scholarship winners, who represent pharmacists, nurses, and physicians from across the U.S. and Mexico, are:
Roberto Jesús Medina Flores
Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Michele Holley, MS, PharmD
Columbus, OH
Edgar Lechuga, BSN, RN, CCRN, CFRN
Boise, ID
Jennifer Rainer, PhD, RN, MBA, NEA-BC, CPHQ, CPHRM, CPPS
Cincinnati, OH
Preeyaporn Sarangarm, PharmD, MBA, BCEMP
Albuquerque, NM
Joseph Saveika, MD, MBA, CPE, CHCQM, FACHE, HALM, ACPA-C
Norman, OK
For more about scholarship benefits, candidate requirements, and application process, visit: https://www.ismp.org/services/judy-smetzer-just-culture-champion-scholarships
CONTACT
Renee Brehio, PR & Communications Specialist, rbrehio@ismp.org
About the Institute for Safe Medication Practices
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) is the nation’s first 501c (3) nonprofit organization devoted entirely to preventing medication errors. ISMP is known and respected for its medication safety information. For more than 30 years, it also has served as a vital force for progress. ISMP’s advocacy work alone has resulted in numerous necessary changes in clinical practice, public policy, and drug labeling and packaging. Among its many initiatives, ISMP runs the only national voluntary practitioner medication error reporting program, publishes newsletters with real-time error information read and trusted throughout the global healthcare community, and offers a wide range of unique educational programs, tools, and guidelines. In 2020, ISMP was acquired by ECRI, a global organization advancing safe, evidence-based healthcare. The ECRI and the ISMP PSO is a federally certified patient safety organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As a watchdog organization, ISMP receives no advertising revenue and depends entirely on charitable donations, educational grants, newsletter subscriptions, and volunteer efforts to pursue its lifesaving work. Visit www.ismp.org and follow @ismp_org to learn more.
