[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2017[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Deborah Peleaz
Marketing and Communications Manager
813-400-2394
[email protected][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column][vc_column_text]TAMPA, FLA – Applications for the 2017-2018 grant cycle of the Jenny Kitsen Patient Safety Award are now available from the American Association of Kidney Patients. Applications are due July 31, 2017. The Jenny Kitsen Patient Safety Award funds an annual lecture, presentation or program that will advance patient safety by exploring innovation in health systems management. The award was created in 2014 by the former Network of New England whose Board of Directors established an endowment to continue the patient safety work of the non-profit organization led by Jenny Kitsen. Kidney care costs the American taxpayer over $99 billion per year, including $68 billion for chronic kidney disease care, and $31 billion for the more than 600,000 individuals who suffer from complete renal failure which includes those on dialysis or have a functioning kidney transplant. The most common cause of kidney disease is diabetes and hypertension. Without dialysis or a kidney transplant, patients suffering from kidney failure will not survive. Since transplant organs are in short supply, most patients must undergo dialysis treatment, a process that substitutes for healthy kidneys by mechanically filtering body wastes and excess fluids from the bloodstream, 3-4 times per week. Patients who undergo dialysis treatment have an increased risk for getting a health care-associated infection (HAI). Hemodialysis patients have weakened immune systems, which increase their risk for infection, and they sometimes require frequent hospitalizations and surgery where they might acquire an infection. Among the organizations eligible to apply for the Jenny Kitsen Patient Safety Award are 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(6) organizations , public and government agencies, and many other organizations and institutions as outlined on the grant application. To apply for the Jenny Kitsen Patient Safety Award online, visit www.aakp.org/jenny-kitsen-safety-award or for more information contact Diana Clynes, Director of Programs and Services at [email protected].
2017 Award Recipients
- A.T. Still University of Oral Health
- All Kidney Patients Support Group
2016 Award Recipients
- National Renal Administrators Association
- Renal Physicians Association
2015 Award Recipients
- American Nephrology Nurses Association
- Forum of ESRD Networks
Founded in 1969, AAKP is the largest and oldest independent kidney patient organization in America. Governed by a patient-majority Board of Directors, AAKP conducts national education programs designed to better inform kidney patients, care-givers and policy-makers about the true impacts of kidney disease, prevention efforts and treatment methods. AAKP executes a national advocacy strategy in conjunction with allied kidney organizations designed to insert the patient voice into proposed policies, research efforts and care deliberations before the Executive Branch and the U.S. Congress.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
