Patient Safety and Empowerment

When Mary Brennan-Taylor lost her mother, Alice Brennan to a series of preventable medical errors, she wasn't interested in suing the healthcare facilities where the mistakes had been made; she was interested in making a difference for future patients so that they would not suffer the same fate as her mother.

We have the benefit of learning first hand from Mary and her experience. She will be presenting information about how to take control, educate yourself and advocate for your own safety when anticipating a hospital stay. This is a message she has taken nationwide as a featured speaker at multiple United States Department of Health and Human Services conferences, the Maryland Patient Safety Annual conference and is an active member of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service Partnership for Patients initiative and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute .

Brennan-Taylor says, "It is vitally important for all healthcare consumers to be their own advocates when dealing with a complex and often times intimidating healthcare system; but it is even more critical for seniors with multiple health issues to be empowered, engaged and educated about practical and effective ways to keep themselves safe when hospitalized."

And, by turning grief into action, Brennan-Taylor is bringing that culture change directly to medical and nursing students at Niagara University and the University at Buffalo, collaborating with the Department of Family Medicine on a unique program that educates future doctors and nurses about the human impact of medical harm and the actions they can take to prevent such harm.

The public is invited to hear first-hand from Brennan-Taylor, learn how her personal experience can help educate you and avoid the unfortunate outcome of unnecessary medical errors, and promote your own personal safety. The session is free and will take place on Wednesday, June 12th at 10:30am, at The Dale Association Centre, 33 Ontario Street, Lockport, NY.
Brennan-Taylor is the Vice President of Programs for the YWCA of Niagara and is a Consumer Reports Patient Safety Advocate, an adjunct research instructor of family medicine at the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, a Niagara Hospice Board member and Lay reader and Eucharistic Minister at Christ Episcopal Church.

What: Patient Safety and Empowerment
When: June 12, 2013
Time: 10:30am
Place: The Dale Association
33 Ontario Street, Lockport, NY