Pat Folcarelli, RN, MA, PhD, Appointed Senior Vice President for Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer at BIDMC

BOSTON – Pat Folcarelli, RN, MA, PhD, has been named Senior Vice President for Patient Care Services and the Cynthia and Robert J. Lepofsky Chief Nursing Officer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). Starting on Monday, November 27, Folcarelli will oversee the approximately 3,000 nurses who care for more than half-a-million patients each year at BIDMC.

Pat is a nationally recognized expert in patient safety and safety culture, and we welcome the addition of her expertise to our senior leadership team,” said Peter Healy, president of BIDMC. “Having previously worked at BIDMC, she is known as an effective and respected leader and a wonderful colleague. We are delighted to welcome her back to BIDMC.

I am honored to return to BIDMC, a place that is a recognized leader in patient-centered, high-quality care,” said Folcarelli. “The opportunity to work with the talented teams in Patient Care Services is a privilege, and I am looking forward to our future together.

Prior to taking the role at BIDMC, Folcarelli worked as Vice President for Patient Safety at CRICO, the medical malpractice insurance and patient safety program serving the Harvard medical community, where she focused on strategic and operational patient safety solutions. Prior to joining CRICO in 2020, she worked in various roles at BIDMC for more than 30 years, most recently as the Vice President for Health Care Quality. In addition to roles in Health Care Quality, Folcarelli served as the Director for Professional Practice Development for Patient Care Services and as a Clinical Nurse.

Folcarelli is also a part-time lecturer in Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and for the past five years has co-directed a course on Patient and Family Engagement in Quality and Safety for the master's in healthcare quality and safety program at HMS.

Folcarelli received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Hunter College of the City University of New York and earned both her master’s and doctoral degrees from New York University. She serves on the Perinatal Quality Improvement Network (PNQIN) advisory board, the Quality and Safety Board for Mercy, a health system in St. Louis, MO, and the Board Subcommittee for Quality and Safety Committee of Baystate Health. Folcarelli is also the Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Alliance for Communication and Resolution Following Medical Injury (MACRMI), which recently became a part of the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety. In addition, she has served on the Board of the Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors, is past Board Chair for Medically Induced Trauma Support Services (MITTS) and is a past president of the Massachusetts Society for Healthcare Risk Management.