Suzan Addison Shinazy, RN

founder, Medical Error Transparency Plan
suzan1111@hotmail.com

Suzan is a former ICU nurse whose mother died after contracting three different hospital infections during her treatment and recovery from a heart attack. This transitioned Suzan from daily advocacy for the patients in her care, to working on infection prevention education, evidence-based best practices and patient safety issues state wide.  She joined the CA Safe Patient Network, helped lobby for passage of the state’s Infection Prevention Education and Public Reporting laws, and presented her mother’s story to the CA HAI-Advisory Committee.  Collaborating with policy makers in 2010, Suzan was invited to participate in the national meeting “Progress Toward Eliminating Healthcare-Associated Infections” sponsored by the Dept. of HHS. She also serves on the board for Health Watch USA, consults with families in crisis, and helps to guide new patients into advocacy.

Following her own recent experience with multiple undisclosed medical errors during surgery, Suzan took to social media to create the Facebook group, “Medical Error Transparency Plan”.  Its membership has grown to 1,346 members and counting. The group is calling for mandatory reporting of medical errors by anyone that has knowledge of, or reasonably suspects, that a medical error has occurred. Reporting must be to an independent oversight committee as well as to the patient, or to the deceased / incapacitated patient’s healthcare representative.