Ted Ball

I experienced heart failure a year ago and received excellent care at Mount Sinai Hospital and the Munk Centre at TGH. I want everyone to get the great care I was so fortunate to receive. That’s why I joined the Patients’ Association of Canada.

In my day job as a healthcare system transformation consultant, I grapple with the fact that 1 in every 13 patients in our healthcare system are harmed -- and that preventable hospital deaths have reached a staggering 25,000 annually. As a patient, I experienced excellent professional and technical care and was helped enormously by a number of caring and compassionate healthcare professionals who made me feel I was their key focus. Some were able to deal with my anxiety and fear.

As we redesign our health system, over the next few years, we must put patients at the centre -- with a focus on quality, safety and the patient experience.