Patient Advocates Everywhere!
A busy morning… and I’m feeling very global in my reach today!
One of the most satisfying aspects to my work is the connections I make with other people who are helping patients. Some are from the medical world, but most are not. Most of us come to this work having suffered a bad experience — so we try to make lemonade from our medical horror lemons.
This morning I talked to Ken Farbstein in Massachusetts. He’s extremely well respected in patient advocacy circles. Link to him here: http://patientadvocare.blogspot.com/
Then I exchanged email with Betsy Gardiner in Virginia. She’s a medical librarian and nurse who works directly with patients and their loved ones.
Later I talked to Marlene Jacobsen in Omaha whose mother died of an undiagnosed brain tumor. Marlene will be testifying for some legislation to hold doctors responsible for their mistakes in Nebraska.
I was connected to Marlene by Patty Skolnik in Colorado. Patty’s son died from a series of medical mistakes. She founded a group called Colorado Citizens for Accountability to help protect others from harm. Find their website at: http://www.coloradocitizensforaccountability.org
And Ilene Corina and I exchanged a handful of emails this morning, too. Ilene overseas PULSE: Persons United Limiting Substandards and Errors Her child died from a medical error, too. Find PULSE at: http://www.pulseamerica.org/
The point is — there are dozens of “us” out here. We network and find new ways to help patients every day. Let me know if you’d like to learn more about them or if you need help yourself.
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