Our Board

Donald W. Aaronson,
MD, JD, MPH

Donald Aaronson interest in patient safety arises from a career-long commitment to professional development, research and teaching. Currently he is Medical Director, Patient Safety for the Advocate Health Care system in Chicagoland.

Dr. Aaronson has been an active participant in organized medicine and professional affairs throughout his career, often achieving leadership positions. Among other activities, he served as President, Joint Council of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (1980-1982); Project Director; Patient Injury Prevention Program Council of Medical Specialty Societies (1981-1987); President, Medical Staff Lutheran General Hospital (1986-1988); Vice-President, American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (1987-1988); Executive Vice President Joint Council Allergy Asthma and Immunology (1987 – 2000); and President, American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (1988-1989). He also is a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (since 1990) and previously was a member of the American Association of Certified Allergists (1990-92).

Aaronson’s teaching appointments have included Clinical Assistant Professor University of Illinois (1984-1992); Clinical Associate Professor University of Chicago Medical School (1992-1997); Clinical Professor of Medicine, Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine (1998-present); and Co-Director, Course in Law Medicine and Ethics at University of Illinois School of Medicine (1984-1992). From 1985-1994, Dr. Aaronson was Editor of the periodical, Medical Malpractice Prevention.

Cynthia Barnard,
MBA, MSJS, CPHQ

Cynthia Barnard has three decades of experience in the fields of quality improvement, patient safety, medical staff affairs, clinical research, developing healthcare information systems for operational support, and strategic planning.

Currently, she is the Director of Quality Strategies at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, the primary teaching hospital of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, where her responsibilities include patient safety, accreditation and regulatory compliance, medical ethics, and patient satisfaction measurement for the hospital. Her teaching appointments include Research Assistant Professor, Institute for Healthcare Studies of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; and Co-Course Director and faculty for Northwestern University's Master's Program in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety. She also has been a guest lecturer at the Feinberg School of Medicine in the Profession of Medicine course and the “Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Medicine” course.

Ms. Barnard chairs the Quality Measurement Advisory Task Force of the Illinois Hospital Association and was a leader in developing the healthcare standards for the Lincoln Foundation for Business Excellence, an Illinois equivalent of the national Malcolm Baldrige award. In 2009-2010, she was a member of the National Quality Forum, Patient Safety Measurement, Evaluation, and Reporting Framework Steering Committee. Previously, she served on the Board of Managers of the Illinois Foundation for Quality Health Care.

In 2008 Ms. Barnard was Principal Investigator on an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality grant to develop a Workshop on Consumer Engagement in Patient Safety, co-funded by the Otho S.A. Sprague Memorial Institute. The workshop, co-convened under the auspices of the World Health Organization’s Patients for Patient Safety initiative, was the first of its kind in the United States. She has led, managed or participated in several other research projects in the quality improvement and patient safety fields as well.

In addition to numerous articles and book chapters, Barnard has written four books: Benchmarking Basics: A Resource Guide for Healthcare Managers. (Marblehead, MA: HCPro Inc, 2006); Performance Improvement: Winning Strategies for Quality and Joint Commission Compliance (with Eisenberg J)(Marblehead, Mass: Opus Communications, 1997 (1st ed), 2000 (2nd ed), 2004 (3rd ed), 2008 (4th ed)); Performance Improvement Basics: A Resource Guide for Healthcare Managers (Marblehead, MA: HCPro Inc, 2004 (1st ed), 2008 (2nd ed)); and Improving Patient Satisfaction with Statistical Correlation: A Step-by-Step Guide to Meeting the JCAHO Staffing Effectiveness Standards (with Hohmann S)(Marblehead, Mass: HCPro Inc., 2003)

In 2008, Barnard received the Otho S. A. Sprague Memorial Institute Recognition Award in Patient Safety (2008), given jointly by the Sprague Institute, the Institute of Medicine of Chicago and the Chicago Patient Safety Forum. She also received National Association for Healthcare Quality David L. Stumph Award for Excellence in Publication, in 2000, for Performance Improvement: Winning Strategies for Quality and JCAHO Compliance, 2nd Edition. She was a Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow in 1987-88.

David M. Chess, MD

David Chess was the original founder of Project Patient Care and its first CEO. Board certified as an internist and geriatrician, Dr. Chess’s central professional objective is to enhance healthcare and wellness within our communities by creating and integrating systems of care, with best care driving best economics.

Dr. Chess currently is Principal and Chief Medical Officer of Clinically Home, LLC, a scalable safe platform for offering patients the option of receiving highly coordinated, hospital level care at home. Chess also serves as President and Chief Medical Officer of NP Care of Illinois, a practice management company with a focus on nursing home and assisted living care.

Previously, Dr. Chess was founder, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Enhanced Care Initiatives, LLC, a disease management initiative that fostered hands on, relationship driven solutions for high risk subpopulations, including medically unstable and behaviorally challenged patients as well as those with aggressive cancer. In that capacity, Dr. Chess participated in the creation and execution of one of the nation’s largest Medical Home programs in concert with Emblem Health and the Commonwealth Fund, integrating technology, office redesign and care management support to reach more than 10,000 lives through more than 40 physician practices. Enhanced Care Initiatives also developed a nurse practitioner driven solution to improve healthcare in the nursing home and assisted living settings through its division NP Care, LLC, where Chess served as President.

Project Patient Care was first established in Connecticut by Dr. Chess as a patient advocacy organization which measures the impact of healthcare policy on individual patient health outcomes. It collaborated with the Connecticut Health Foundation to establish a “Healthcare Barometer for Connecticut,” assisted the Department of Public Health in Connecticut to create educational material regarding the Avian Flu threat for the medical and lay communities, and supported research on the impact of pharmaceutical formulary management on people over fifty. In 2010 Chess was instrumental in relocating Project Patient Care to the Chicago area, to carry on the mission of the former Chicago Patient Safety Forum as an independent nonprofit organization.

Chess is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He graduated from the Albert Einstein School of Medicine, and served as Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at Bridgeport Hospital.

Regina Greer-Smith,
MPH, FACHE

Regina Greer-Smith is President of Healthcare Research Associates, LLC, which focuses on design, implementation, and delivery of services and solutions to communities served by its clients. She is a board-certified healthcare executive with extensive project management experience, specializing in re-engineering healthcare system operations to achieve cost savings and operational improvement. Her commitment to patient safety also is grounded in her family’s personal experience with preventable harm incurred during medical care.

Previously, Ms. Greer-Smith was Associate Administrator, Decision Support Strategic Initiatives for the Cook County Health and Hospital Systems in Chicago. In that role, her work extended to analysis and implementation of projects in diverse areas of the system, including surgery, ambulatory and community health networks, specialty-care assessment, palliative care and the business modeling of partnerships between county health centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs).

Ms. Greer-Smith has an extensive consulting background in Health Information Technology (HIT) and computer science, including the development of regional health information networks for social service and faith-based organizations, design and training to implement eHealth community technology centers at community libraries, training “C” level executives on EMR best practices, and training of HIT sales directors, managers, and associates on the major issues affecting healthcare.

Greer-Smith also has been involved in implementing community health programs including a two state initiative for cancer and heart-disease management in the community setting resulting in the impacting of approximately 700 patients in south suburban Chicago. She also managed the implementation of a National Institute of Health initiative with a major healthcare system and university targeting the health of teenagers in four school districts, resulting in enhanced medical and mental health services.

Greer-Smith is a Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives and is active in the Health Information Management System Society (HIMSS) and the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE). Her commitment to communities of color has lead her to her active partnership with the American Heart Association (AHA), where she has served as Ambassador, state advocacy board member, and volunteer lobbyist. Her AHA work has involved extensive outreach and engagement to minority communities about heart disease and stroke.  She is Adjunct Professor, Governor State University, Masters in Health Services Administration Program, and serves on the South Suburban Chicago Regional Institutional Review Board. In Chicagoland, she is active in the Southland Health Care Forum and the Crossroads Coalition, among other community organizations. Previously, she served on the board of the Chicago Patient Safety Forum.

Greer-Smith has been designated a Patient Safety Champion by the World Health Organization’s Patients for Patient Safety Program. She co-authored Personal touch - personal health records for consumers of healthcare, JHIM 23(3):26-30 (2009).

Martin J. Hatlie, JD
CEO

Martin Hatlie is a lawyer, licensed in Illinois and Massachusetts. Drawing on experience as a civil rights attorney, malpractice defense litigator, lobbyist and coalition-builder, he is active in both public and organizational policy development on patient safety, litigation reform and patient safety issues.

Mr. Hatlie is President of Partnership for Patient Safety (p4ps), a patient-centered initiative dedicated to advancing the reliability of healthcare systems worldwide. Among other activities, p4ps develops case based training tools exploring systems problems that produce adverse patient events. Its interactive educational programs, the First Do No Harm® video series, developed in partnership with the Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions, are used widely throughout the world.

In 1997 Hatlie coordinated the American Medical Association’s launch of the National Patient Safety Foundation and served as its founding Executive Director. In 2003 he co-founded Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the role of the consumer as a proactive partner in pursing safe healthcare, where he currently serves as Program Chair and member of the board of directors. Hatlie collaborated in the development of the Patient Safety Education Project, a high impact adult learning initiative housed at Northwestern University’s Buehler Center, and has qualified as a Master Facilitator in disseminating the program. He also serves on the Leapfrog Group Board of Directors, the World Health Organization’s Patients for Patient Safety Steering Committee, the Advisory Board of Parents of Infants and Children with Kernicterus, and the Joint Commission’s Patient Safety Advisory Group.

Previously, Mr. Hatlie was a member of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Session on Medical Error and served on the boards of the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, the Physician Insurers Association of America and the American Tort Reform Association. Mr. Hatlie has authored numerous articles addressing patient safety and medical liability issues and is co-editor of the Patient Safety Handbook, one of the first textbooks in the field.

Shirley Hobbs-Fujimoto,
Director, Communications and Development

Shirley Hobbs-Fujimoto is a healthcare consumer active in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood, where she lives with her husband, Ralph Fujimoto. Her professional background is broadcast communications, specializing in promotion and public relations with media, the cable industry, and federal and local political campaigns. She has extensive experience as a fundraiser. In addition to sitting on the Project Patient Care Board of Directors, she also serves as Director of Communications and Development.

Previously Ms. Hobbs-Fujimoto served as Public Relations Director and Executive Producer for TLN - the “Total Living Network.” In that role, she served as Executive Producer for all network specials and on-air promotions, supervised promotional material for production facilities and programming, directed all public relations activities including coordination of an annual press party for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. She also managed affiliate relations with cable industry. Ms. Hobbs-Fujimoto’s programs were honored with several nominations and awards, including Emmy nominations for Carmen (1994) and Dedication (1995), a Grammy nomination for Water Color Ponies and numerous National Operations Awards and Excellence in Media Awards.

Her fundraising work has included serving as Executive Producer for all network specials with fundraising goals, collaborating with executive leaders to establish fundraising goals, meeting with business leaders and community leaders to involve them in campaigns, and arranging fundraising events.

Ms. Hobbs-Fujimoto also has done extensive freelance work with the /CNBC Travel Network, arranging live-feeds with NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN, producing two national television shows, and serving as Assistant Producer for the Easter Seals Telethon in Hollywood California.

Hobbs-Fujimoto has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Southern California/California State University, where she also studied business and marketing. Over the course of her career she has engaged in numerous educational activities to remain current in the broadcast communications field.

Michael L. Millenson
President, Health Quality Advisors LLC

Michael L. Millenson, president of Health Quality Advisors LLC, is a nationally recognized expert on improving the quality of care, patient empowerment and e-health. He is the author of the critically acclaimed book Demanding Medical Excellence: Doctors and Accountability in the Information Age, and he holds an adjunct appointment as the Mervin Shalowitz, M.D. Visiting Scholar at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. National Public Radio called him “in the vanguard of the movement” to measure and improve the quality of medical care.

Prior to starting his own company, Mr. Millenson was a principal in the health-care practice of a major human resources firm. Later, he was a consulting producer for the award-winning public TV series Remaking American Medicine and a senior adviser to the Markle Foundation’s Connecting for Health information technology initiative. Earlier, he was a health-care reporter for the Chicago Tribune, where he was nominated three times for a Pulitzer Prize.

Mr. Millenson speaks and writes regularly on health care issues. He has testified before Congress, lectured at the Harvard Business School and written for publications ranging from the British Medical Journal and Health Affairs to The Washington Post and The Huffington Post. He serves on the foundation boards of the American Health Information Management Association and American Medical Group Association; on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Medical Quality and Managed Care; and on the advisory board of several health care start-ups.

Carrie E. Nelson,
MD, MS, FAAFP
Chair, Board of Directors

Dr. Carrie Nelson is a board-certified Family Physician in practice for nearly 20 years in the Chicago area. Over the past decade she has also focused on issues of healthcare system quality and patient safety and has held several leadership roles both within area healthcare systems and in a voluntary capacity. Dr. Nelson is frequently invited to speak, sharing success factors with physician groups around the country who are involved in healthcare quality improvement efforts. In addition, she serves as faculty for the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Practice Enhancement Forum.

Dr. Nelson completed her medical training at Rush University Medical Center in 1989 and obtained a Masters Degree in Administrative Medicine and Population Health from the University of Wisconsin in 2002. In addition to her position as Founding Chair for Project Patient Care, she serves as second vice-president for the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians, president of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago and chair-elect for the AAFP Practice Improvement Conference.

Dr. Nelson is Medical Director for an Illinois Medicaid program, Your Healthcare Plus (YHP). YHP is dedicated to improving the health of patients with the greatest disease burden in the state through a focus on self management skills, care transitions, physician clinical metric feedback and care coordination with the medical home. In addition she has a passion for enhancing physician training in the areas of quality and patient safety and is faculty at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University.