Santhi Iyer Kumar, MD, an experienced pulmonologist dedicated to improving patient outcomes, has been appointed chief quality and patient safety officer of Keck Medical Center of USC.

Reporting to Chief Medical Officer Stephanie Hall, MD, Kumar will work in close partnership with Associate Administrator of Quality and Outcomes Linda Barraza, RN, to ensure the delivery of high-quality, effective, safe and patient-centered care across Keck Medical Center USC.

Additionally, Kumar will collaborate with leadership and staff throughout the organization to achieve outstanding performance on key nationally standardized metrics of quality and safety.

“Dr. Kumar will serve in her new position as a champion of quality and patient safety across Keck Medical Center of USC,” said Rod Hanners, COO, Keck Medicine of USC and CEO, Keck Medical Center of USC. “She is passionate about transforming care at the bedside by engaging multiprofessional staff and patients alike to improve patient outcomes and ICU survivorship.”

Kumar, who also is assistant professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, has played a leadership role in critical care initiatives at both Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center and Keck Hospital of USC. She served as the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) co-director at LAC+USC for the past four years as well as principal site investigator for the national ICU Liberation Collaborative.

Kumar currently is the MICU director at Keck Hospital. She has advanced training in quality improvement through Intermountain Health System, TeamSTEPPS and is Lean trained. Kumar is an active member of the medical staff at Keck Hospital, serves on the Care Delivery Redesign Steering Committee, co-chairs the Code Blue Committee and is actively engaged in the Critical Care Committee.

Kumar obtained her medical degree from Drexel University College of Medicine and completed her residency and fellowship training in internal medicine. She completed her fellowship in pulmonary/critical care medicine at LAC+USC.

— Douglas Morino