Facts about the Public Advisory Group on Health Care Quality

A diverse group of nationally prominent individuals and organizations serve on The Joint Commission’s Public Advisory Group on Health Care Quality. The Public Advisory Group counsels The Joint Commission on current health care issues that are of concern to the public, and suggests how The Joint Commission can best address these issues through its patient safety and quality improvement requirements. The group advises on the most effective avenues for reporting quality information to the public, and helps to build closer working relationships with recipients of care and those who advocate on their behalf.

The distinguished and diverse backgrounds of the individuals represented on the advisory group have greatly benefited The Joint Commission as it strives to meet the public’s demands for quality improvement and greater public accountability in health care. The public’s perspective is critical to The Joint Commission in ensuring that accreditation has relevance for the millions of Americans seeking health care services.

The Public Advisory Group meets twice a year and includes representatives from public advocacy groups, disease-prevention associations, consumer groups and others. Individual members and organization representatives, who are appointed to renewable two-year terms, are selected based on their knowledge of health care quality issues, history of public service, and ability to express views from the perspective of the public. Current members are listed below. For more information, contact Kim Andersen, Department of Board and Committee Activities, (630) 792-5660.

Public Advisory Group Members
 

• Chair: Susan W. Haikalis, L.C.S.W.
  Community Health Resource Center, San Francisco, Calif.
• Vice Chair: Steve Eidelman 
  University of Delaware first Robert Edelsohn Chair in Disability Studies
• Julianne O’Connell Beckett
  Family Voices, Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa
• Shelley Bluethmann
  Alzheimer’s Association, Chicago, Ill.
• Alfred J. Chiplin, Jr., Esq.
  Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc., Washington, DC
• Nathaniel G. Clark, M.D., M.S., R.D.
  American Diabetes Association, Alexandria, Va.
• Carol A. Cronin, M.S.N., M.S.G.
  Delmarva Foundation, Annapolis, Md.
• Joyce Dubow
  American Association of Retired Persons, Washington, DC
• Leonard J. Finocchio, Dr. P.H.
  Citizen Advocacy Center, Washington, DC
• John R. Garrison
  J.R. Garrison and Associates, Shiloh, N.J.
• Steven Hendrickson
  United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Washington, DC
• Judith Hibbard, Dr.P.H.
  University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore.
• Linda K. Kenney
  Consumer Advancing Patient Safety (CAPS), Chicago, Ill.
• Barbara K. LeStage, M.P.H.
  American Cancer Society, Wrentham, Mass.
• Brian W. Lindberg
  Consumer Coalition for Quality Health Care, Washington, DC
• Jennifer Sweeney
  National Partnership for Women & Families, Washington, DC
• Lawrence B. Sadwin
  American Heart Association, Warren, R.I.
• Ho Luong Tran, M.D., M.P.H.
  Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, San Francisco, Calif.
• Raymond B. Werntz, Jr.
  PN Worldwide Inc., Washington, DC
  
  

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