Annual Virginia Patient Safety Summit Focusing on Health Care Community ‘Moving Forward Together’ Attracts Record Audience

February 23, 2023

 Virtual Event Highlighting Patient Safety and Quality Work is Presented with Support from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association, Member Hospitals and Health Systems, the Medical Society of Virginia, the Virginia Nurses Association, and the Virginia Pharmacists Association

RICHMOND, VA – Today (Thursday, Feb. 23), the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) and the VHHA Center for Healthcare Excellence are hosting the twelfth annual Virginia Patient Safety Summit. This year’s Patient Safety Summit – one of the nation’s premier patient safety and quality conferences – has attracted more than 1,300 registrants from across the health care community, including industry experts and thought leaders. The theme for this year’s Summit is “Virginia Healthcare: Moving Forward Together,” which presents an opportunity for the Virginia hospital and health care community to reflect on the challenging past three years during the COVID-19 pandemic and to recalibrate for the journey ahead as hospitals continue to focus on providing safe, high-quality patient care and fostering joy in work among the health care workforce.

The Summit features keynote remarks from Dr. Tejal Gandhi, Chief Safety and Transformation Officer with Press Ganey Associates; Dr. Peter Pronovost, Chief Quality and Clinical Transformation Officer with University Hospitals in Cleveland; New York Times bestselling author Theresa Brown; and Corey Feist, Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. During the Summit, Inova Health System President and CEO Dr. J. Stephen Jones will be honored as the recipient of the 2023 “Imagine a Virginia” Senior Leader Quality and Patient Safety Award from VHHA. Team members from Virginia-based health systems including Carilion Clinic, Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, Inova Health System, UVA Health, Valley Health System, and VCU Health will also share quality and safety presentations during the Summit. The VHHA Center for Healthcare Excellence will also recognize 2022 Virginians Speak Up for Safety Award recipients and VHHA/IHI Open School Quality and Safety Scholars as part of the program.

“The Virginia Patient Safety Summit is a celebration. A celebration of health care quality and patient safety successes by Virginia hospitals and their teams. A celebration of outlasting COVID-19, one of the more difficult chapters in modern times. And a celebration of the hospital and health care community emerging on the other side of the pandemic and working in collaboration in pursuit of better, healthier days ahead,” said Peter Mulkey, CEO of Clinch Valley Health and Chair of the VHHA Board of Directors. “As we continue to navigate our way out of the pandemic, it is important to look at how we can move forward together. One of the many steps in that process is hosting this Summit, which is bringing together more than 1,300 people from the health care community to help facilitate meaningful conversations about shared next steps.”

Added VHHA Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety Abraham Segres: “Virginia has a diverse mix of hospitals that serve distinctive communities with patient populations that have unique and specific medical needs. While such differences exist, one constant across all our hospitals is an unwavering commitment to providing all patients with high-quality, safe health care. The annual Virginia Patient Safety Summit is a chance for hospital teams and health care providers to network and share their successes and best practices to advance our safety culture improvement journey.”

The Virginia Patient Safety Summit traces its roots to 2011 when VHHA successfully pursued legislation in the Virginia General Assembly recognizing each Feb. 2 as “Virginia Patient Safety Day.” The Association and its members are dedicated to the mission of enhancing health care quality and patient safety to make Virginia the healthiest state in the nation. Even during the pandemic, Virginia and its hospitals have been recognized for top performance in emergency preparedness, patient safety, and health care quality. Virginia hospitals continue to consistently earn high marks in these areas. Earlier this year, for instance, hospitals from across Virginia were recognized as some of the best in the nation for clinical excellence. Virginia also ranked second overall among states in the Fall 2022 Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Grade state rankings that are based on the share of hospitals in each state that earn “A” grades for patient safety.

In addition to 2023 Virginia Patient Safety Summit partners – the Medical Society of Virginia, the Virginia Nurses Association, and the Virginia Pharmacists Association – VHHA extends its thanks to the following sponsors whose support helps make this event possible:

• Gold Sponsors: Adams Strategy Group, Bon Secours Mercy Health, Carilion Clinic, Chesapeake Regional Healthcare, Evolv Technology, Mary Washington Healthcare, Qualivis, Sentara Healthcare, SteraMist by TOMI, US Acute Care Solutions, and UVA Health.
• Silver Sponsors: Centra Health and Kinometrix.
• Bronze Sponsors: Ballad Health, Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD), Children’s National Health System, HCA Virginia, Inova Health System, The Language Group, and Valley Health.

About VHHA: The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association is an alliance of 110 hospitals and 26 health delivery systems that develops and advocates for sound health care policy in the Commonwealth. Its mission is to achieve excellence in both health care and health. Its vision is through the power of collaboration to be recognized as a driving force behind making Virginia the healthiest state in the nation. Connect with VHHA through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Julian Walker
Vice President of Communications
(804) 297-3193 office
(804) 304-7402 mobile
jtwalker@vhha.com