HARRISBURG:  The Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority has hired a Patient Safety Liaison (PSL) for the southwest region to help healthcare facilities that report through the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Reporting System (PA-PSRS) improve patient safety for Pennsylvania citizens.

The Patient Safety Liaison program began in August 2008 in northeastern Pennsylvania. The program, according to the Authority’s Director of Educational Programs, Fran Charney, has grown to four liaisons. PSLs are located in the northeast, northwest, south central and the southwest regions of Pennsylvania. Two more PSLs are expected to be hired by the end of the month. A total of six liaisons will complete the program early next year.

“The PSL program has been a tremendous success allowing the Authority and healthcare facilities that submit PA-PSRS reports to us develop a more one-on-one relationship,” Charney said. “Several educational programs and collaboratives on issues such as wrong-site surgery, mislabeling of laboratory specimens and healthcare-associated infections have been developed or are in the developmental stage since the program began in just over a year.

“All hospitals, ambulatory surgical facilities, birthing centers and certain abortion facilities will have a PSL they can go to for strategies and other patient safety improvement resources by the end of January, Charney added.”

Robert Yonash, RN, of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania has been hired as the Patient Safety Liaison in the southwest. Yonash graduated from Penn State University and most recently worked as the Health Facility Quality Examiner in the southwest for the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Previously, he worked at Monongahela Valley Hospital in the risk manager/quality improvement department. In his role with the hospital, he aggregated and analyzed data for quality, performance improvement, patient safety and risk management. Prior to Act 13 of 2002 (MCare Act), Chapter 51 was in effect, and Mr. Yonash was responsible for reporting events in the hospital to the Department of Health. He also worked with several committees on various patient safety issues including: patient falls, patient restraints, resuscitation review, medication errors and adverse drug reactions.

Mr. Yonash also worked as a medical surgical nurse at Uniontown Hospital in Uniontown, Pennsylvania and at Havencrest Skilled Nursing Facility in Monongahela, Pennsylvania.

“Robert’s experience gives him the ability to see different sides of patient safety as an employee of a facility and as a health surveyor for the department of health,” Charney said. “His various roles within patient safety prior to coming to the Authority will undoubtedly benefit him as he builds relationships with the patient safety officers in his region.”

Charney said duties of the PSL include: helping the Authority gain a better understanding of the patient safety issues facing patients and facilities; assisting facilities with analyzing their data and implementing Authority guidance to reduce and eliminate harmful events;  identifying training needs and coordinating education and focus sessions with hospitals on a regional or individual level with personnel from the Authority’s contractors, ECRI Institute and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP); delivering presentations at individual hospitals, local professional societies and other interest groups regarding the Authority’s role, mission and activities and fostering patient safety cooperation among facilities in the region.

“As the program continues to grow, so do the opportunities for facilities and the Authority to work together to improve system processes and continually develop cultures of safety,” Charney said. “In the PSL regions to date, patient safety officers have played an integral role by providing the feedback needed to develop educational programs and collaboratives.

“These programs will also continue to grow as the relationships between the PSLs and patient safety officers develop,” Charney added.

For more information on the Patient Safety Authority and its PSL program visit the Authority’s web site at www.patientsafetyauthority.org.

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