March 8, 2004

To provide information, promote education and engage in communication about patient safety in Michigan, Governor Jennifer M. Granholm proclaimed March 7 to 13 as Michigan Patient Safety Awareness Week.

“It is vitally important for individual consumers, entire communities and all providers to be actively involved in understanding and furthering patient safety, ” said Janet Olszewski, Director of the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH). “I am pleased that Michigan is committed to continually improving a culture of safety that encourages the prevention of errors.”

MDCH is partnered in the effort to raise awareness of patient safety with The Michigan Health and Safety Coalition (MH&SC). MH&SC, formed in 2000, is Michigan’s leader in the continual quality improvement effort designed to improve patient safety, and strives to bring together a variety of key health care leaders, stakeholders and consumers to aid this effort.

“The Michigan Department of Community Health is proud to play an involved role in the MH&SC,” Olszewski said. “The coalition provides leadership in developing guiding principles and strong policy for continued and increased patient safety.”

The goal of the MH&SC is to help improve health care quality in Michigan through cost-effective improvements in patient safety, including medical errors, across all health care settings.

The coalition is continually pursuing major initiatives and coordinating activities related to medical errors and patient safety.

Since its creation, MH&SC has undertaken projects to measure and improve health care for Michigan patients. The coalition has developed guidelines for eight areas of hospital care, established a web-based consumer report, and held annual conferences focused on reducing patient care errors and increasing safety.

For more information on patient safety, visit the Michigan Health and Safety Coalition website at www.mihealthandsafety.org