PULSE: Ilene Corina Receives MITSS HOPE Award at 9th Annual Dinner

November/December 2010

PULSE

Ilene Corina Receives MITSS HOPE Award at 9th Annual Dinner

More than 400 healthcare, business, and community leaders, as well as patients and family members, gathered to celebrate the MITSS 9th Annual Dinner and Fundraiser November 4th in Boston, Mass. The theme of the event was “Unlock the Opportunities,” and the program featured opening remarks by “e-Patient Dave” deBronkart and a keynote by Anthony D. Whittemore, CMO and SVP of clinical affairs at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. MITSS Founder, President and Executive Director Linda K. Kenney hosted the event.

A major highlight of the evening was the presentation of the third annual HOPE Award. The award Honors Outstanding People Everywhere who have furthered the MITSS mission of Supporting Healing and Restoring Hope to patients, families, and clinicians impacted by medical errors and adverse events.

The 2010 HOPE Award recipient was Ilene Corina. Presented by Sanjay Malivaya, president and CEO of RL Solutions, sponsor of this year’s HOPE Award, Ms. Corina was recognized for her tireless efforts in pursuit of patient safety, advocacy, and education as the founder of PULSE of New York. She was the first consumer member of the National Patient Safety Foundation and the first consumer advocate board member of The Joint Commission. Accepting the award, Ms. Corina talked about experiencing the “best and the worst of healthcare.” In the early 1990s, she lost her 2-year-old son to a series of preventable medical errors. Subsequently, she witnessed the miracle of healthcare when another son was born prematurely at 23 weeks, required significant medical interventions over the course of 3 years, and is now a healthy 16-year-old. These experiences have influenced her work as she channels her boundless energy into positive action on behalf of patient and family members nationwide.

Each speaker encouraged the audience to look for the opportunities in their respective arenas in an effort to better support everyone involved in adverse events as well as provide safer and better quality healthcare. deBronkart pointed out the significant role that patients and families can play. As yet, they are a relatively untapped and underutilized resource. In his keynote, Dr. Anthony Whittemore chronicled his own institution’s journey following Linda Kenney’s adverse event, which led to the formation of the BWH Office for Professionalism and Peer Support. Whittemore summed up his presentation and the tone of the evening with words of wisdom: “We are all Patients. We are all Caregivers. Let’s take very good care of each other.”