13
PATIENT
SAFETY
LEADERS
A Portrait of Patient Safety Leadership:
Dr. Ronald Wyatt, Joint Commission's
New Patient Safety Officer
By Shannon Barnet
I
n February, the Joint Commission named Ronald M. Wyatt, MD,
the organization's first-ever patient safety officer. e position
reflects the Joint Commission's commitment to promoting safe
and high-quality care with a goal of zero patient harm.
Dr. Wyatt was chosen for the position based on his accomplished
career in medicine and his expertise in the field of patient safety.
Here, Dr. Wyatt shares his journey from small-town boy to the face
of patient safety at the Joint Commission.
Choosing medicine as a path
Looking back on his life, Dr. Wyatt can recall several experiences
that eventually drove his decision to pursue medicine.
Dr. Wyatt was raised in a small, rural town in Alabama, but he spent
many of his summers growing up in Harrisburg, Pa., with his grand-
mother. She lived across the street from one of the town's general
practitioners, and Dr. Wyatt would watch the residents of the town
come and go from the physician's office. He was intrigued by what
went on at the practice.
One summer, Dr. Wyatt developed an abscess on his shoulder, so he
went across the street to the physician's office to have it treated. e
physician lanced the abscess and showed Dr. Wyatt how to care for it
so it would heal properly.
"I remember being this little black kid from Alabama and here is
this older, gray-haired white man and he just took care of me," says
Dr. Wyatt. "Not only did he see me, he made me feel better and he
showed me how to take care of myself and I just thought that was
such a great thing to be able to do — to take care of someone."
Although this first experience with medicine sticks out in Dr. Wyatt's
memory now, at the time he didn't give it much thought. It wasn't
until he was 15 years old that Dr. Wyatt gave medicine any more
consideration as a future path.
As a teenager, Dr. Wyatt had a high school teacher who took a special in-
terest in his academics and — given his impressive grades in science —
suggested he consider becoming a physician. e teacher also encour-
aged Dr. Wyatt to attend a summer enrichment program in Oklahoma.
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