Profession
Massachusetts uses tobacco money to create patient safety center
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 2, 2004
With the help of $200,000 from the state's share of the nationwide tobacco settlement, the Massachusetts Dept. of Health has created the Betsy Lehman Patient Safety Center, named after a Boston Globe columnist who died after receiving four times the amount of chemotherapy she was supposed to receive while being treated for breast cancer in 1994.
Located within the state's Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the center will create patient safety education and research programs for the health care industry and the general public, serve as a clearinghouse for reporting improvements in patient safety, coordinate patient safety data collection and coordinate state and local programs.
Assistant Health Dept. Commissioner Nancy Ridley will serve as director of the center.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/02/02/prbf0202.htm.
