Health care professionals from around the world will travel to Williamsburg, VA to attend the 2007 Planetree Annual Conference October 2-5, 2007. Hosted by Planetree-affiliated hospitals Sentara Obici Hospital, Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center and Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, the 2007 Conference brings together industry leaders and health care practitioners, academics, patient advocates, architects, and administrators to share best practices and innovations in patient-centered care.
(PRWEB) September 20, 2007 -- Health care professionals from around the world will travel to Williamsburg, VA to attend the 2007 Planetree Annual Conference October 2-5, 2007. Hosted by Planetree-affiliated hospitals Sentara Obici Hospital, Sentara Williamsburg Regional Medical Center and Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, the 2007 Conference brings together industry leaders and health care practitioners, academics, patient advocates, architects, and administrators to share best practices and innovations in patient-centered care.
Among the keynote speakers for the four-day event will be two women who will recount their personal experiences with the health care system. Journalist and breast cancer survivor, Linda Ellerbee will talk about "How to Survive a Changing World and How to Change Your World," and Lee Woodruff will share her family's difficult journey after her husband, ABC News Anchor Bob Woodruff, was critically injured in Iraq while on assignment.
Other keynote speakers will include Keith Ferrazzi, who has been called one of the world's most "connected" individuals by both Forbes and Inc. magazines; Keith Harrell, a dynamic life coach who specializes in changing behaviors through a positive attitude; Rosemary Gibson, author of Wall of Silence, a book of accounts of patient and clinician experiences of medical errors; and Dr. Richard Kogan, a distinguished concert pianist and psychiatrist has been praised for his "eloquent, compelling and exquisite playing" by the New York Times and the Boston Globe.
In addition to these speakers, the 2007 Planetree Annual Conference will feature breakout sessions on practical strategies for implementing and fostering a patient-centered culture in diverse health care environments, including acute care, continuing care, behavioral health and outpatient settings.
The Conference will conclude on Friday, October 5th with the Spirit of Planetree Awards Dinner, during which individual health care professionals and institutions will be honored for their achievements in patient-centered care. In addition, Planetree will recognize the first hospitals nationwide to be officially named "Planetree Designated Patient-Centered Hospitals. (need to confirm with Carrie that this language is correct)" The recognition of these hospitals is the culmination of a two year-long pilot initiative developed by Planetree to distinguish those hospitals nationwide doing among the most advanced work in patient-centered care.
Lead Sponsors of the 2007 Planetree Conference include architectural firm Albert Kahn Associates, Inc., a leading planning, design and management firm; GetWellNetwork, a health care interactive services firm that works to enhance the healing and coping process to patients and care providers; Nurture by Steelcase, a company that transforms health care environments to make lives better for patients, caregivers and partners in care; and HDR, an architectural, engineering, and consulting firm that is consistently recognized as one of the top health care designers in the country.
For more information on the 2007 Planetree Annual Conference, call the Planetree National Office at 203.732.1365 or visit www.planetree.org.
For nearly three decades, Planetree, Inc., a not-for profit organization based in Derby, CT has been at the forefront of the effort to humanize, personalize and demystify the health care system. Today, the Planetree Membership Network is a global community of more than 125 acute care hospitals, continuing care facilities, outpatient clinics and consumer health libraries, each working to transform the health care experience by considering health care facilities, processes and protocols from the perspective of the patient.
Planetree Media Contact:
Lisa Donnarumma
203.732.1377
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