Mary Decker Staples has been a health care executive since 1976. Most recently she has been with the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston. Prior to UTMB, she was with the University of Michigan Hospitals in Ann Arbor, and Trinity Health in Detroit. Mary earned a BA at the University of Michigan in 1972 and received her MBA from Eastern Michigan University in 1976.

In 1992 and 1993 Mary was a finalist for the USAToday /RIT Quality Cup for an improvement team, which she led, and for a team she participated in. She participated in the National Demonstration Project for the Application of Total Quality to Healthcare from 1986-1988, leading the first quality improvement team at the University of Michigan Hospitals.

Mary lives in Galveston, Texas. She is a member of a gourmet group on the island, enjoys cooking, and is an avid reader of murder mysteries.

In my last article on the Techman/Kanata website I discussed the 1999 report from the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) about the quality of healthcare in America's hospitals. This report estimated that between 44,000 and 98,000 people die per year in hospitals due to errors or mistakes. (P 1, To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, National Academy of Sciences, 1999)

On March 1, 2001, the IOM released the 2nd report on the quality of healthcare in the US. This report, entitled Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century, National Academy of Sciences, 2001, addresses the changes required to begin to remodel the healthcare system to deliver care which approaches the minimal standards utilized in almost every other industry. This report is available on line at www.nap.edu/catalog/10027.html. The press release is also available at this site.

The press conference itself was very interesting. There were 2 particular discussions that I found informative. I believe these interchanges helped to put the issues we are facing in terms that are understandable to all of us.