Sorrel King is the founder of The Josie King Foundation and she created organization devoted to addressing safety and quality in health care, stemming from the death of her daughter, Josie King, at Johns Hopkins Medical Center as a result of medical error.
The Foundation has been responsible for working with Johns Hopkins to create the Josie King Pediatric Patient Safety Program in the Children’s Center. The Foundation has also been involved with other projects, including participation in a disclosure video in conjunction with work done at Hopkins by Dr. Albert Wu, and participation in the implementation of Condition H at UPMC – Shadyside Hospital. As a result of a speech made by Ms. King at the IHI National Forum in 2002, a video was made and distributed to hundreds of health care organization throughout the world, and has been translated into Hebrew and Spanish. Ms. King has been a keynote or plenary session speaker at many conferences and forums including: the IHI National Forum (2002, 2004) and the EU Patient Safety Summit in 2005, in addition to countless Grand Rounds, and hospital system-based presentations.
Ms. King has appeared on the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, and Good Morning America, with Charlie Gibson, and was featured in a Forbes magazine article titled “Fixing Hospitals in 2005.” On July 21, 2004, Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (D-RI) introduced the "Josie King Act" as a tribute to Ms. King’s work and Josie’s life.
