Patient Safety Movement Foundation Announces Winners of 2021 Humanitarian and Lewis Blackman Awards

The Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF), a global non-profit committed to achieving zero preventable patient deaths by 2030, announced the winners of its 2021 Humanitarian and Lewis Blackman awards at its 8th annual World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit (WPSSTS). President Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was recognized with the Joe Kiani Humanitarian award, Javier Davila received the Beau Biden Humanitarian award and Jannicke Mellin-Olson was honored with the Steven Moreau Humanitarian award. The 2nd annual Lewis Blackman award was presented to Ingrid Bonilla.

“Achieving our mission of zero preventable patient deaths by 2030 relies on individuals coming together to create change,” said Michael Ramsay, MD, CEO of Patient Safety Movement Foundation. “We are proud to recognize all four of this year’s winners for their individual efforts, leadership and commitment to improving patient safety globally.”

The Humanitarian Awards recognize leaders who have made significant progress in the last year eliminating or raising awareness of preventable patient deaths. This year, recipients were honored across three categories – the Joe Kiani award, Beau Biden award and Steven Moreau award. The Joe Kiani award was named after the founder of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation and recognizes individuals who are committed to the foundation’s mission. The Beau Biden award was created in 2018 to honor Beau Biden, former attorney general of Delaware, member of the Army National Guard and late son of President Joe Biden, for his devotion to public service and the safety of others, especially children. The Steven Moreau award is presented annually to a hospital administrator who possesses a zeal for improving patient safety at their hospital. This year’s recipients included:

• President Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States, has been a long-standing supporter of patient safety. During his time in office, he was committed to expanding access to affordable, quality health care for all Americans. He received the first-ever Joe Kiani award for his continued support of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation and its goal to reach zero preventable medical deaths by 2030.
• Javier Davila, PSMF ambassador in Mexico, former medical director at the Mexican Social Security Institute and head of medical education, research and health public policy, was recognized with the Beau Biden award for his passion for public service and improving patient safety for others. Since joining PSMF, he has focused on promoting the culture of safety in Mexico and has helped build affiliations with many prestigious public and private hospitals, as well as establish relationships with numerous organizations to help further the mission.
• Jannicke Mellin-Olson, MD, DPH, has been a longtime patient safety advocate. Her passion for patient safety started during her residency at Trondheim University Hospital in Norway, where she worked on a number of patient safety initiatives. She received the Steven Moreau award for her continued efforts to spread the mission to stakeholders across Europe, as well as in her current clinical post at Baerum Hospital in Oslo, Norway.

The Lewis Blackman Leadership Award was established in 2020 to recognize active students or residents pursuing a career in healthcare who demonstrate exemplary leadership skills in patient safety that contribute to PSMF’s vision of eliminating preventable medical harm. It was designed in honor of Lewis Blackman, who died on November 6, 2000 at the age of 15, as a result of preventable medical harm in a healthcare setting with a poor culture of safety and inadequate training. Before his death, he was an outstanding student and his mother, Helen Haskell, has become an advocate for improving patient safety, especially through education.

• Ingrid Bonilla, fourth year medical student at Medical University of South Carolina, has demonstrated an early commitment and passion for improving patient safety. During her time in medical school, she has worked with noted patient safety champions in South Carolina on new criteria to prevent central line infections, collected data on COVID-19 to determine how it presents itself in children and how they should be treated and has also focused on improving communication between patients, families and providers.

The Patient Safety Movement Foundation launched the Humanitarian Awards in 2013 to recognize individuals whose work helps advance patient safety and the Lewis Blackman Award was created in 2019. To learn more about the awards and past winners, visit: https://patient.sm/LewisBlackman.

The full WPSSTS event is available to watch on demand for $20 through May 9, 2022 at: http://patient.sm/summit2022 or free after May 9 at: http://patient.sm/summitYT.

About the Patient Safety Movement Foundation: The Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF), a global non-profit organization founded in 2012, is celebrating 10 years of bringing awareness and creating action to eliminate preventable medical errors. Some estimates predict that one in 12 patients are impacted by a preventable medical error, but that number could be even higher as there is no central database tracking these figures in most countries, including the U.S. Over the last decade, there had been major strides to improve patient safety, but the COVID-19 pandemic stressed the system and it proved not to be resilient and took a step backwards. PSMF has a vision to eliminate preventable patient harm and death across the globe by 2030 – and that starts with raising awareness of this critical issue. It unites patients, advocates, health workers, medical technology companies, government, employers and private payers in support of this cause. From its evidence-based best practice solutions (Actionable Patient Safety Solutions™) and industry Open Data Pledge to its World Patient Safety, Science & Technology Summit and more, PSMF won’t stop fighting until it achieves zero. For more information, please visit patientsafetymovement.org, and follow PSMF on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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Contact information

Leslie Licano, Beyond Fifteen Communications, Inc.
psmf@beyondfifteen.com | (949) 733-8679 ext.101