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Dear Colleagues,

Each year, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) hosts the Virginia Patient Safety Summit — one of the nation’s premier patient safety and quality conferences. This year’s theme was “Resilience: The Cornerstone of Virginia Healthcare” and programming included a review of progress on efforts undertaken in the past year to address staff burnout and well-being due to the extraordinary stress placed on healthcare systems and frontline professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

We hope many of you were able to attend this year’s summit, and for the many who were not able to attend, we hope you can find time to review presentations meaningful to you at the 2022 Virginia Patient Safety Summit website, including those from some of our own UVA Health experts: 

• Michelle Longley, DNP, RN, (G)NP-C, AGCNS-BC, who was selected to share UVA’s work Rectal HAPIs: Interprofessional Efforts to Mitigate the Unhappy Risks of Bowel Management Systems, and Restraints: Releasing New Alternatives, Documentation, and Education at an Academic Medical Center
• Ava Speciale, MSN, RN, and Susan Jackiewicz, MHA, MSW, who presented on Zero Tolerance Toward Workplace Violence
• Tracey R. Hoke, MD, MSc, FAAP, who moderated a panel Caring for Virginia’s Caregivers.

As we recognize the importance of advancing a true culture of safety this National Patient Safety Awareness Week, it’s important to acknowledge that delivering the safest care and environment for all patients, families, staff, and visitors begins with developing strategies for our own resilience and well-being. To learn more about support and resources available for UVA Health team members, please visit the Wisdom and Well-being program and Faculty and Employee Assistance Program.

Sincerely,

Wendy Horton, PharmD, MBA, FACHE
Chief Executive Officer | UVA Medical Center

Tracey Hoke, MD, MSc
Chief of Quality and Performance Improvement