Trust news

Strengthening Patient Care and Safety

5 Million Lives CampaignOver 40,000 incidents of medical harm occur in the United States every day, making medical errors the fifth leading cause of death nationwide, according to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI). To help implement and strengthen systems and safeguards that prevent such problems as hospital-acquired infections, adverse drug events, surgical errors, pressure ulcers and other medical complications, IHI has launched the national 5 Million Lives Campaign to prevent five million incidents of medical harm over two years.

The Colorado Trust has committed $3.9 million to support this campaign statewide, as well as other patient safety efforts. The Colorado 5 Million Lives Campaign builds on the successful Colorado 100k Lives Campaign and provides support to 45 acute care hospitals to further strengthen their quality improvement systems and help to ensure safe patient care. Additional grants from The Trust are available to Colorado’s remaining 29 acute care hospitals to participate in the campaign’s educational programs and technical assistance trainings.

The Trust is also supporting a partnership to develop a shared statewide patient safety strategy, and the development of technologically simulated scenarios to help health care providers learn how to provide safe care.

For more information about these efforts to improve the quality of patient care, please contact Laurel Petralia, Program Officer, 303-837-1200 or laurel@coloradotrust.org.