VHHA Hosts 13th Annual Virginia Patient Safety Summit Focused on Innovation to Enhance Health Care Quality, Value, Patient Outcomes, and Provider Experience

February 22, 2024

The Virginia Patient Safety Summit is a Premier Event that Spotlights Quality and Safety Work in Health Care

This Free Virtual Event is for Virginia Hospital Team Members and Students and is Presented in Collaboration with the Medical Society of Virginia, the Virginia Nurses Association, and the Virginia Pharmacists Association

RICHMOND, VA – Today (Thursday, Feb. 22), the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA), the VHHA Foundation, and the VHHA Center for Healthcare Excellence are hosting the thirteenth 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 1,600 registrants from across the health care community, including industry experts and thought leaders. The theme for this year’s Summit is “Quadruple Aim: Innovation in Virginia Healthcare,” with programming and presentations focused on advancing care delivery to improve quality, enhance the patient experience, expand safety initiatives, increase efficiency, and reduce costs. 

Keynote speakers for the 2024 Summit include Dr. Aditi Mallick, MD, the Acting Director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health; and Bonnie Clipper, DNP, MA, MBA, RN, CENP, FACHE, FAAN, an internationally recognized nurse futurist and nursing innovation expert. Other Summit speakers include Virginia State Health Commissioner Dr. Karen Shelton, MD, representatives from the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, and leaders from Bon Secours, Carilion Clinic, ECRI, Inova Health System, the University of Pennsylvania, UVA Health, VCU Health, and the Virginia Neonatal Perinatal Collaborative. During the Summit, Dr. Jake O’Shea, MD, MBA, HCA Healthcare Vice President and Chief Health Information Officer; Dr. Joel Bundy, MD, FACHE, Sentara Health Senior Vice President and Chief Medical and Quality Officer; and Mary Morin, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, Sentara Health Senior Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer, will be honored as recipients of the 2024 “Imagine a Virginia” Senior Leader Quality and Patient Safety Award from VHHA.

“The Virginia Patient Safety Summit presents an opportunity to recognize and emphasize the importance of innovation in health care delivery to find new ways to improve quality, enhance the patient experience, expand safety initiatives, increase efficiency, and reduce costs,” said Ballad Health Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Eric Deaton, Chair of the VHHA Board of Directors. “Virginia hospitals and health systems and their teams constantly pursue innovation to enhance care, quality and safety efforts, and patient outcomes. Sharing this work and celebrating its results is an important way to help strengthen the health care delivery system for all Virginians.”

Added VHHA Vice President of Quality and Patient Safety Abraham Segres: “Virginia’s hospitals serve patients across the Commonwealth in large cities and counties as well as rural communities. While each is unique, they share a passion for providing high-quality, high-value care to meet the needs of patients and families. By focusing this year’s Virginia Patient Safety Summit on the innovations that drive improvement, our goal is to help support continuing gains in safety culture, enhance patient satisfaction, and foster joy in work among the health care workforce.”

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. Virginia and its hospitals have been repeatedly recognized for top performance in emergency preparedness, patient safety, and health care quality. One example of that can be found in the Fall 2023 Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Grade state rankings which rated Virginia second overall among states based on the share of hospitals in each state that earn “A” grades for patient safety.

In addition to 2024 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: Centra Health, Sentara Health, VCU Health, the Language Group, Qualivis, and Vizient. 

About VHHA: The Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association is an alliance of 111 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, X (Twitter) , YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok.

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