The Chicago Patient Safety Forum was initially conceived by five individuals, Dr. Kevin Weiss, Dr. Gordon Schiff, Dr. Stephen Small, Dr. Margaret Baumann, and Dr. Gary Noskin.  Following the release of the Institute of Medicine's Report, To Err is Human, it was felt that there needed to be a concerted focus on patient safety should be forged in the Chicago area.

In response to the national call to action, in 2001, a group of concerned health care providers enlisted the endorsement of the Institute of Medicine of Chicago (IOMC) and support of the Otho S. A. Sprague Memorial Institute to launch an effort to bring together local and national health care organizational representatives, policy makers, and local Chicago opinion leaders with interested individuals to forge a community-oriented multi-institutional agenda to improve patient safety in the Chicago region.  This project was officially launched in Sept of 2001 with an invited workshop of over 75 health professionals, civic leaders, health care institutional representatives, and health care consumers for the purpose of defining such an agenda.  Fifty leaders in medicine and public health held the inaugural meeting of CPSF on Sept 12, 2001.  From this effort a Steering Committee was recruited and the Chicago Patient Safety Forum was on its way. 

The overall outcome identified a large number of individuals and organizations in our community who are committed to the issue of patient safety and have the expertise and interest to provide the basis for a substantial community-based effort in this area. 

The Chicago Patient Safety Forum is an independent program of the IOMC and is the regional patient safety coalition in the Chicago area whose goals include promoting a culture of safety, public awareness, and developing leadership and inter-organization collaborations to improve the safety of medical care in Chicago.

From this beginning, a Steering Committee to direct activities was originated and several topic-focused committees were established to develop agendas to target improvement in different aspects of patient safety in the Chicago area. View our current and past initiatives.

2003
CPSF has convened annual symposiums focused on the broad issues of patient safety including a full-day workshop entitled "Creating Safer Health Care in Chicago," held on February 7, 2003 at the Gleacher Center in Chicago with over 200 workshop participants.  In October of 2003, "A Showcase of Patient Safety Improvements" at Rush-Presbyterian Hospital was attended by over 200 individuals.

2004
The Medical/Legal Task Force of the CPSF has had a busy and productive year. Following our large and successful meeting September 13, 2004, "Promoting Patient Safety in Illinois: Medical/Legal Aspects", a working group of hospital counsels, physicians and experts in patient safety began meeting in November. The goal of this working group was to increase the volume and quality of patient safety activities in Illinois, specifically to encourage studies with learning and sharing within and between organizations. Specifically, draft protocols are near completion with guidelines as how best to carry out such endeavors while maximizing the protections of the Illinois Medical Studies Act.

2004 Patient Safety Award

2005
On March 11, 2005 , the CPSF presented its 2005 Annual Scientific Meeting: Voices from the Field: Five Years After "To Err Is Human".

CPSF also developed several membership categories.

On July 11, 2005 CPSF presented its First Annual Membership Meeting which led into the election of our 2006 Steering Committee.

2005 Patient Safety Award

2006
On March 9, 2006, CPSF presented its 2006 Annual Scientific Meeting: Culture of Safety: A System Strategy to Reduce Medical Errors and Increase Patient Safety

On July 10, 2006, CPSF presented its Second Annual Membership and Strategic Planning Meeting which led into the election of our 2007 Steering Committee.

2006 Patient Safety Award

2007
On March 3, 2007, CPSF presented its 2007 Annual Scientific Meeting: Patient Safety: Moving From Concept to Reality.

On September 10, 2007, CPSF presented its Thrid Annual Membership Meeting which led into the election of our 2008 Steering Committee.

2007 Patient Safety Award

2008
On March 14, 2008, CPSF presented its 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting: Patient Safety Across the Continuum.

On December 10, 2008, CQPS achieved listing by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a federal Patient Safety Organization under the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005.

2008 Patient Safety Award

2009
On January 1, 2009 CPSF assumed the new name "Coalition for Quality and Patient Safety of Chicagoland" (CQPS), a reorganization and refocus of our organization to better engage with and serve the needs of the broader healthcare community.

On March 16, 2009 CQPS offices relocated to 222 South Riverside Drive. We are now housed in the offices of the Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council. Martin J. Hatlie, JD has been retained as our new Executive Director.

CQPS' premiere event will be the Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Summit on June 3, 2009.