Furthering its commitment to patient and staff safety, SSM Health participated in a recent White House forum with 15 of the nation’s leading health systems with the goal of significantly reducing preventable harm in health care.
Dr. Shephali Wulff, system vice president of quality and safety at SSM Health, participated in the White House Healthcare Safety Forum, where health systems committed to taking action to provide safe care for all and achieve zero preventable harm. These 16 health systems collectively provide care to more than 30 million patients and employ hundreds of thousands of dedicated health care workers.
“I was pleased to represent SSM Health at the Patient Safety Forum held at the White House on World Patient Safety Day,” said Wolf. “Our most fundamental responsibility as healthcare providers is to keep our patients and teams safe from preventable harm. We do this by empowering everyone to speak up for safety, understanding how safety incidents happen, and building processes to prevent harm.”
While the industry experienced challenges in these areas, the American Hospital Association noted that most healthcare organizations saw improvements in hospital-acquired infections, preventable deaths and surgical safety.
Three panels highlighted safety measures being taken at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Prisma Health and MedStar Health.
The goals of the forum included catalyzing public-private efforts to achieve the milestone of reducing patient and worker harm by 50 percent toward the goal of zero preventable harm, and advancing best practices to build on the momentum of recent efforts to enhance patient and worker safety.
SSM Health is a leader in patient and employee safety and has implemented specific measures to increase safety in its facilities. These measures include trauma-informed care and de-escalation training, establishing a security academy and participating in public education activities.
Stephanie Duggan, MD, chief clinical officer at SSM Health, was among the healthcare leaders invited to a briefing and listening session on patient and worker safety at the White House on August 23. The event was held as a follow-up to the September 2023 report, “A Transformative Approach to Patient Safety,” issued by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and the work of the National Action Coalition for Patient and Worker Safety.
