The DFW Hospital Council (DFWHC) Foundation’s 11th Annual Patient Safety Summit is scheduled for August 13-14 at the Arlington Convention Center. This year’s theme is “Home Run for Safety,” with Sorrel King, the creator of the Josie King Foundation, and Dave Dravecky, the former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, serving as keynote speakers.

Sessions on August 13 are from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. and on August 14 from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Kicking off the event is Sorrel, whose daughter Josie tragically died in 2001 as a result of medical errors. Consumed by grief, Sorrel was determined to honor Josie’s memory and created the Josie King Foundation. Today, Sorrel is a nationally known patient safety advocate with the Josie King Foundation creating such projects as care journals, disclosure programs and a patient journal app implemented by hospitals across the country.

“We are thrilled about Sorrel King’s participation this year,” said Kristin Jenkins, president of the DFWHC Foundation. “One of the most important ways to reduce accidental harm and improve patient safety is to learn from our close calls. Addressing these problems within the Patient Safety Summit not only results in safer systems, but it focuses our efforts on the need to identify future problems and solutions.”

Additional speakers will include Lieutenant General Paul Kendall Carlton Jr., 17th Surgeon General of the US Air Force. Poster abstracts will also be displayed throughout the two-day event.

Since patient safety was first brought to light in the 1990s, studies have shown a large number of patients harmed by preventable errors such as system failures, human factors, prolonged hospital stays and cost-cutting measures. Such errors can cause serious injury or death and result in billions of dollars in excess health care costs.

The Patient Safety Summit serves as an opportunity for hospital employees to discuss past errors and to make strategic plans on how to keep them from happening again. More than 350 attendees are expected to participate, including healthcare employees, nurses, patient safety advocates, chief nursing officers and hospital executives.

You can register here.

Sponsorships can be found here.

For information, contact Patti Taylor at ptaylor@dfwhcfoundation.org or 972-719-4900.