Emily Jerry Foundation

Discovery Channel Premieres “Surfing the Healthcare Tsunami; Bring Your Best Board” Documentary

The Emily Jerry Foundation — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:51:42 +0000

We had the opportunity to attend the premier of the Discovery Channel documentary "Surfing the Healthcare Tsunami; Bring Your Best Board" on Friday April 27th in Washington DC at the National Press Club. While there I met Sully Sullenberger who incredibly landed US Airways Flight 1549, which had been disabled by striking a flock of Canadian geese during their initial climb out, in the Hudson River off Manhattan, New York City, on January 15, 2009. All of the 155 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft survived. Sully is not only a great guy in my opinion, he's a true American Hero! This patient safety documentary features the initial interview I did last year with Eric Cropp, where I publicly forgave him for what happened with Emily. I have always felt very strongly about the fact that when these horrible tragedies occur in medicine, that the real focus should always be on "where did the system break down?' and not on any one individual who clearly had no malice. In looking at things from this perspective, I truly believe that we can learn from these horrible events and implement measures and safeguards to prevent these same medical errors from occurring over and over again. This documentary aired on The Discovery Channel for the first time Saturday, April 28th at 8:00am. It can be viewed below...

Emily Jerry Foundation Invited to Speak May 15th at the 2012 Northwest Patient Safety Conference

The Emily Jerry Foundation — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:44:53 +0000

Lisa and I had the chance to meet John J. Nance (keynote speaker for this event) last week at the premier of "Surfing The Healthcare Tsunami; Bring Your Best Board." John is a great guy that is also featured in the documentary. We are very excited to take part in this opportunity to spread the message. For more information about the event click here to visit the Washington Patient Safety Coalition website.

Discovery Channel to air “Surfing the Healthcare Tsunami: Bring Your Best Board” on April 28th Featuring Initial Interview Between Christopher Jerry and Eric Cropp

The Emily Jerry Foundation — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 01:20:09 +0000

Photo courtesy of SafetyLeaders.org Last May, Dr. Charles Denham of TMIT brought Eric Cropp and I together for the very first time for an interview, since my daughter Emily’s tragic death. Emily died from a medication error that occurred only days after her second birthday in 2006. Shortly after establishing The Emily Jerry Foundation in 2009, I had explained to a number of people, including Dr. Denham, how and why I felt so strongly about publicly forgiving Eric for the death of my beautiful little girl Emily. Many people simply thought I had completely lost my mind and could not comprehend or understand why, as Emily’s father, I would ever want to take such a drastic step. Read more...

Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation: “Daughter’s Death Fuels Father’s Passionate Crusade”

The Emily Jerry Foundation — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:12:51 +0000

Special thanks to the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) for covering the Emily Jerry foundation in the April 2012 edition of AAMI News. We truly appreciate all their support in shedding light on our cause. An excerpt of the article is below:

Six years ago, Chris Jerry was going to surprise his 2-year-old daughter Emily with the best present she could ask for, which wasn’t a toy or even a pony. It was that she no longer had cancer. But he never got to tell her. On Feb. 26, 2006, Emily underwent one last chemotherapy treatment to eliminate residual cancer cells from the yolk sac tumor she had battled for six months, but something went terribly wrong. When Jerry got to Rainbow Babies& Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, OH, that day, his daughter was already unconscious from an unbearable amount of pain. “I just remember opening the door and my wife at the time had this look of horror on her face,” he told AAMI News.

Read the full article at aami.org by clicking here.

News Channel 5: 2-year-old girl’s death sparks positive changes at University Hospital and across the state

The Emily Jerry Foundation — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:14:20 +0000

I was interviewed after the Quality & Patient Safety fair at University Hospitals Case Medical Center by Cleveland's News Channel 5 about the Emily Jerry Foundation and my speech to UH staff that afternoon. Watch the video footage below and click here to read the full story.

MedCity News Covers Emily Jerry Foundation Presentation At University Hospitals Quality & Patient Safety Fair

The Emily Jerry Foundation — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 01:07:41 +0000

After my speech at University Hospitals on Wednesday MedCity News came out with a story highlighting the event. They noted the importance of the fact that I was addressing the hospital staff at the very site my daughter's tragic death occurred. The event was filled with hope though, because as we continue to move forward and bring our minds together I feel confident we are positively impacting patient safety around the country. Read the MedCity News Coverage by clicking here.

The Emily Jerry Foundation & University Hospitals partner for National Patient Safety Awareness Week 2012.

The Emily Jerry Foundation — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:39:27 +0000

My beautiful Emily would have been eight years old a few days ago on February 24th. Words cannot express how it feels, or how meaningful it is as Emily’s father, to be honoring my little girl by announcing our foundation’s new program, The Emily Jerry Pediatric Safe Patient Initiative and by giving this very important keynote speech at University Hospitals to begin National Patient Safety Week. The Emily Jerry Foundation has been working closely with University Hospitals over the past year, to find effective ways to collaborate in the area of patient safety, learning from Emily’s story, and trying to prevent similar errors from occurring again. The following is the official poster University Hospitals will be posting internally. Click the image below to download a pdf with all the event details...

February 21st – The Delaware Valley Society of Health-System Pharmacists presents “Intravenous Medication Compounding: Lessons Learned from a Fatal Error and Recommendations for Best Practices”

The Emily Jerry Foundation — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:18:52 +0000

2012 is ramping up quite nicely for the Foundation. We have a major speaking engagement for The Delaware Valley Society of Health-System Pharmacists scheduled for February 21st in Conshohocken, PA. This event is titled “Intravenous Medication Compounding: Lessons Learned from a Fatal Error and Recommendations for Best Practices.” The speakers include myself, Eric Cropp, and my good friend Michael Cohen, President of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. We are hoping to continue to make a worthwhile impact with our story and this event promises to be another great opportunity to do just that. To read all the details of the event click on the image below to download the pdf...

March 3 – Huntsville, Alabama 2012 PATIENT SAFETY SYMPOSIUM

The Emily Jerry Foundation — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:25:40 +0000

I am truly excited to travel to Huntsville, Alabama this March to take part in the 2012 Patient Safety Symposium. As I have found my calling in being a Patient Safety Advocate each presentation seems to become more and more important. I am honored and humbled to have been asked to attend. This will be a great event, hopefully I'll see some of you there! To read all the details about the event click on the image below...

Michael Cohen Authors Philadelphia Inquirer Article About Emily Jerry Foundation

The Emily Jerry Foundation — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:08:59 +0000

An incredible article by a true patient safety advocate, Institute for Safe Medication Practices president Michael Cohen. I am incredibly thankful for the continued support he has shown our foundation and our mutual cause. Hopefully this article will touch and inspire those who it reaches. Click on the image below to download a pdf of the actual newspaper clipping.