October 12, 2004
Dana-Farber names noted medical errors prevention expert to oversee patient safety program
Saul Weingart, MD, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has recruited Saul Weingart, MD, PhD, a national expert on medical error prevention, to be vice president for patient safety and the director of the Center for Patient Safety.
Weingart, who comes to Dana-Farber from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, combines the experience of being a practicing physician with an extensive background in the research, teaching and administration of medical error prevention initiatives. His research has focused on the use of computer order entry systems in preventing medication errors and the role that patients and families can play in identifying and preventing adverse events.
"The leaders, staff, patients and family members who interviewed Saul were all struck with his enormous expertise, passion, and vision for assuring and improving patient safety," says Jim Conway, chief operating officer and executive vice president at Dana-Farber. "He is the perfect leader and collaborator to continue our longstanding efforts to provide exceptional and safe patient and family centered care."
Weingart will devote 80 percent of his time to the Center for Patient Safety and 20 percent to patient care. He is the first internist to join Dana-Farber's staff, and will eventually concentrate his direct patient care work on the Perini Family Survivors' Center.
The Center for Patient Safety was established to promote patient safety by reducing the risk of patient harm and maintaining a safe environment to conduct care and clinical research. The center's faculty will continue to conduct research on the field of patient safety in oncology cancer care.
"There are few other world-class health-care organizations that embrace safety as part of their core mission the way Dana-Farber has, or have the same level of commitment from senior leaders," says Weingart. "I believe we can work together to splice safety into the genome of the organization and create a flagship program that unites teaching, research, and care."
Weingart earned a medical degree from the University of Rochester and a doctorate in public policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He has taught safety-related quality improvement to medical interns and residents, and participates in executive development courses at the Harvard School of Public Health. He also has written and co-edited a series of online patient-safety courses for the Harvard Risk Management Foundation.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a principal teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and is among the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute.
