Ann Hendrich

Ann was named a top 50 national patient safety expert by Becker’s Hospital Review and one of the top 25 women leaders in health care by Modern Healthcare. She was selected as a Nursing Leader to Watch by the American Organization for Nursing Leadership. Ann has served on The Joint Commission Nursing Advisory Council and the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). She was invited by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to join the US Delegation at the 71st United Nations General Assembly for an international meeting on antimicrobial resistance. 

As a patient safety leader, Ann has led initiatives and published research advancing the reduction of mortality and harm across all patient populations. This works includes reducing maternal and neonatal harm, system-wide sepsis protocols, antibiotic stewardship, person and family engagement, and organizational change. She contributed to federal policy to establish patient safety organizations (PSOs) and created and ran a component PSO for Ascension. As a Principal Investigator at Ascension, Ann received more than $60M in funding from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the National Cancer Institute, and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to drive hundreds of innovation projects to improve quality and patient safety. Her groundbreaking, national, multisite study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, known simply as the Time and Motion study, measured the relationship between the complex hospital environment and available caregiver time for direct patient care. Her expertise in how nurses spend their time informed the development of the Hendrich II Fall Risk Model^® and is a vital concern as she continues to enhance the model and its supporting programs. Ann’s research in injurious fall prevention continues with large integrated health care systems, assisted living, home care, and senior care with extensive case types. This work will advance knowledge of evidence-based interventions and how nursing and interprofessional practice can enhance direct care and professional practice models.

Ann’s passion for fall prevention and safe mobility extends to national leadership in advancing evidence-based care for older adults.  Ann was a Founding Co-Chair of Age-Friendly Health Systems, an initiative of The John A. Hartford Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States. She continues to serve as faculty and adviser to this initiative. She also has a long history of involvement with Nurses Improving Care for Healthcare Elders (NICHE) and led one of the first three research sites in the country that started NICHE.

Ann is a frequent keynote and endnote speaker at federal meetings, national organizations, and state organizations. She currently serves on editorial boards and consults with boards on strategic deployment of quality and safety initiatives and organizational change models. She also serves as a mentor for the American Hospital Association Next Generation Leaders Fellowship.