Carole Hemmelgarn

Carole Hemmelgarn, MS, MS, graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Speech Communication. She received a master’s degree in Patient Safety Leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a second master’s degree in Health Care Ethics from Creighton University.

Carole has worked in healthcare for over 30 years.  She was an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Chicago for ten years teaching in their mater’s program for patient safety. Currently, Carole is the Senior Director Education for the MedStar Institute for Quality & Safety. She is also the Director for the Executive Master’s program for Clinical Quality, Safety & Leadership at Georgetown University.

Hemmelgarn is involved in patient safety work across the country.  She sits on the Leapfrog Patient & Family Caregiver Expert Panel, Board of Quality, Safety and Experience at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes Collaborative at Children’s Hospital Colorado, Clinical Excellence Council for Colorado Hospital Association, and the Board of Directors for the Collaborative for Accountability and Improvement.

Her passion resides in transparency and communication after medical errors, health care communication, the power of storytelling in health care, and the aftermath endured by providers, patients, and families when medical harm transpires.

Carole was driven to the field of patient safety after she lost her nine year old daughter, Alyssa, to multiple medical errors.