Patient Safety Movement Foundation Appoints New Chairman

Patient Safety Movement Foundation (PSMF) has appointed its new chairman of the board of directors – Michael A.E. Ramsay, MD, FRCA. It also reaffirms its commitment to patient health and safety with updates to its mission, vision and values; and reestablishes its goal of achieving ZERO preventable patient deaths by 2030.

As one of PSMF’s longest-standing board members, serving since 2013, Dr. Ramsay has been an advocate for patient safety in the anesthesia world since the 1980’s and embodies the values and principles set forth by the foundation. He is a renowned medical professional and the current president of the Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, where he spearheads clinically relevant research efforts. Well-known for the development and implementation of the Ramsay Sedation Scale – a tool that has been adopted globally, designed for interpreting the depth of sedation for patients in the critical care unit; he also serves as chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.

“The Patient Safety Movement has achieved tremendous momentum in the eight years since its inception,” said Joe Kiani, founder and prior chairman of the board of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation. “Kindling this important movement has been an enormous part of my life’s work, and I am thrilled to pass the torch to Dr. Ramsay to carry our shared vision forward into the future with passion and enthusiasm.”

To date, the foundation has accomplished: saving 366,353 lives since 2013, securing 48 countries with committed hospitals, securing 54 countries with partner groups (i.e. hospitals, open data pledge, other partners), securing 4,793 total committed hospitals securing 92 total pledges securing 94 total partners, and saving a total of 93,276 lives in 2019 alone.

While the foundation did not achieve its prior goal of hitting zero preventable patient deaths by 2020, it renews the pledge with a new target goal of 2030.

“It is a great honor to be appointed chairman of the board of directors of the Patient Safety Movement Foundation,” states Dr. Ramsay. “Lives are being saved and patient harm is being prevented. We share monumentally important goals and have taken great leaps forward thus far; and I truly look forward to building upon the successes to date to achieve ZERO preventable patient deaths by 2030.” Dr. Ramsay has written his first “Letter from the Chairman” which is published monthly on the PSMF’s website.