Loeb Receives ASHP Board of Directors Award of Honor

ASHP today recognized the work of the late Jerod M. Loeb, Ph.D., a tireless patient safety advocate, with the ASHP Board of Directors Award of Honor. Loeb’s widow, Sherri, accepted the award during the opening session of ASHP’s Midyear Clinical Meeting in Anaheim, CA. Dr. Loeb passed away in 2013 from metastatic prostate cancer.

At the time of his death, Dr. Loeb was Executive Vice President for Healthcare Quality Evaluation at The Joint Commission. In his nearly 20 years at the Joint Commission, he played a leadership role in identifying, evaluating and implementing performance measures across the wide variety of Joint Commission accreditation and certification programs.

Dr. Loeb was involved in a variety of national and international initiatives associated with performance measurement and patient safety, including those of the National Quality Forum, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the World Health Organization. Dr. Loeb was on the Board of Directors of the National Patient Safety Foundation and was a member of the executive board of the International Society for Quality in Health Care.

Prior to coming to The Joint Commission, Dr. Loeb was assistant vice president for Science, Technology and Public Health at the American Medical Association.

Dr. Loeb was a prolific author with more than 170 publications in cardiovascular medicine, risk assessment and communication, scientific ethics, and health care quality. He was deputy editor of the International Journal for Quality in Health Care and was a member of the editorial board.

Dr. Loeb received the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission’s John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 and the 2013 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Staten Island, City University of New York.

“ASHP enjoyed a long and productive relationship with Dr. Loeb,” said ASHP President Christene M. Jolowsky, M.S., R.Ph., FASHP. “He was a forward-thinking advocate for patient safety who understood and valued the contributions that pharmacists make to improving quality and outcomes.”

Dr. Loeb completed his graduate education at the State University of New York - Downstate Medical Center and held fellowship positions at Harvard Medical School - Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. He served on the faculty at Northwestern University Medical School since 1979 in both full- and part-time capacities.

As a community volunteer, Dr. Loeb worked with the Buffalo Grove, IL, Fire and Police departments. He was a graduate of the Buffalo Grove Citizen’s Fire Academy and a trained member of the Buffalo Grove Community Emergency Response Team. He was appointed to the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners in 2005 and in 2012 received the “Heart of Buffalo Grove — Above and Beyond Award” for his longtime volunteer service to the village.