Three Fellows Recognized as Patient Safety Experts in Becker’s

Recently, Becker’s Hospital Review, the well-known medical industry trade magazine, recognized 145 patient safety experts across the US whose works has been cited and verified as “ensuring that every patient receives safe, effective care.” Among those recognized were three ACS Fellows, whose contributions are summarized below:

Paula Ferrada, MD, FACS, chair of surgery at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus and system chief of trauma and acute care surgery at Inova Health System in Falls Church, Virginia. Dr. Ferrada leads a high-volume perioperative platform at Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, overseeing 56 ORs, 15 procedure rooms, more than 54,000 annual cases, and 750+ team members. She improved first-case on-time starts from 53% to 79% and reduced major delays from 11% to 6.8%. Her safety initiatives achieved a 90% reduction in OR burns and sustained zero retained surgical items. She has authored 145+ publications and serves as an ACS Governor.

Jeremy Goodman, MD, MBA, FACS, vice-president and system quality officer at Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida. Dr. Goodman oversees clinical management, patient safety, and performance improvement across Baptist Health’s six-hospital system, driving clinical integration and physician collaboration to improve outcomes. A physician executive with expertise in transplant surgery and process improvement, he has led the transformation of the system’s quality infrastructure through organizational and staff redesign, emphasizing health equity, quality, and safety. Under his leadership, Baptist Health achieved Leapfrog “A” safety grades in 2025.

Jacqueline Saito, MD, MSCI, MBA, FACS, chief quality and safety officer and vice-president of medical affairs at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC. Dr. Saito leads enterprise-wide safety, quality, infection control, and regulatory initiatives while maintaining an active pediatric surgery practice. She has advanced safety culture through organization-wide improvement efforts and initiatives addressing systemic barriers to care. Nationally, she chairs the ACS National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP)–Pediatric and co-leads a colorectal surgical site infection reduction collaborative. She has helped develop pediatric surgery standards and reduce surgical complications. 

In addition, several non-surgeons were recognized for their roles in promulgating ACS Quality Programs, such as Children’s Surgery Verification and NSQIP, and more broadly for advancing the surgical patient quality and safety principles the ACS espouses, reinforcing that ACS work is central to the national conversation around patient safety, healthcare transformation, and system reliability.

Read the full list.