Patricia “Tricia” Kassab, R.N., B.S.N., M.S., joined City of Hope as vice president of quality and patient safety on June 1, 2009, providing executive leadership for the Department of Quality, Risk and Regulatory Management.

Kassab focuses on improving patient care through the planning, implementation and evaluation of vital quality and patient safety efforts for the medical center. She is responsible for maintaining standards consistent with accreditation by The Joint Commission and other regulatory and accreditation bodies, and she leads efforts to optimize the patient experience. In addition, she is responsible for Accelerating City of Hope Excellence, which is the lean transformation focus for the enterprise.

Kassab joined City of Hope from St. Joseph Health System in Orange County, Calif., where she served as assistant vice president of clinical quality and patient safety. While there, she led a number of initiatives that improved patient safety and satisfaction, including the implementation of an automated event reporting and patient complaint system, facilitation of comprehensive surgical and pharmacy services improvement initiatives and coordination of mock surveys and educational presentations with 14 health-care facilities.

She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and her Master of Science degree in nursing administration from San Diego State University. She is a former president of the California Association for Healthcare Quality and is a member of the National Association of Healthcare Quality. She also chairs the Accreditation and Licensure Committee of the Hospital Association of Southern California and is a California Baldridge examiner for the California Awards for Performance Excellence.