Phelps Chief Medical Officer to Chair Advisory Council for Patient Safety Organization
Helps Improve Quality and Safety of Healthcare in the Region
Lawrence L. Faltz, MD, FACP, Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Chief
Medical Officer at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, has been appointed chairman
of a multi-hospital advisory council that provides guidance to the Patient Safety
Institute of Northern Metropolitan Hospital Association (NorMet). Formed in
2008, the Patient Safety Institute is the first federally recognized patient
safety organization in New York State, and one of only a few in the country
that focuses on hospital quality and safety for patients.
As chairman of the Clinical Advisory Council, Dr. Faltz leads a committee of
medical directors and quality assurance directors from 25 hospitals in the seven-county
region north of New York City. The Council will provide guidance and share information
about quality of care and patient safety for the Patient Safety Institute. The
ultimate goal is to improve care systems in hospitals in order to reduce error,
save lives, improve patient outcomes and reduce costs.
"We are fortunate to have Dr. Faltz' talent guiding this novel initiative,"
said Angela M. Skretta, Vice President of Normet and Executive Director of the
Patient Safety Institute. "He is a voracious reader of clinical literature,
a critical thinker, and always determined to advance the practice of medicine
toward the best quality of care for the patient, within an environment of increasingly
limited resources."
According to Skretta, Dr. Faltz was selected based on his demonstrated leadership
with the New York Chapter of the American College of Physicians and his role
as a member of the Hospital Professional Technical Advisory Committee of The
Joint Commission, the national hospital accrediting agency.
Dr. Faltz was a member of the Board of Governors of the American College of
Physicians from 1998 to 2004 and was President of the New York ACP Chapter in
2003. He is also a fellow of The New York Academy of Medicine, which spearheads
initiatives and research in epidemiology, health policy, child health, biomedicine,
handgun injury, infectious diseases and more.
Board certified in internal medicine and rheumatology, Dr. Faltz has been on
the faculties of New York University School of Medicine, Albert Einstein College
of Medicine and Cornell University Medical College. He is currently Associate
Clinical Professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Before joining Phelps
in 1994, he was Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Internal Medicine
Residency Program Director at New York Hospital Queens.
Northern Metropolitan Hospital Association represents community hospitals and
other health care organizations in Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess,
Ulster and Sullivan counties.