Molly Punzo, MD, medical director for quality improvement for Shore Health System, now also serves as the organization’s patient safety officer. In this combined role, she ensures that all clinical activities are performed in ways that contribute to patient safety.
Michael Tooke, MD, chief medical officer for Shore Health System, comments, “Dr. Punzo serves as the consistent point of contact within Shore Health System. She is a resource for physicians and other clinical staff and proactively ensures that any issues that could jeopardize our patients are promptly corrected.”
Dr. Punzo recently completed the Improvement Advisor Professional Development Program through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. The year-long program is designed for healthcare professionals who are currently a source of improvement expertise in their organizations and who want to deepen their knowledge and enhance their effectiveness. Improvement Advisors are devoted to helping identify, plan and execute improvement projects throughout the organization, deliver successful results and spread changes throughout the entire system.
A graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Dr. Punzo completed her medical training through an internal medicine residency and a fellowship in advanced internal medicine at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut. Prior to relocating to the Eastern Shore, Dr. Punzo was a senior scientist for the Hartford Hospital Department of Research. She worked in internal medicine, emergency departments and in the intensive care units at several hospitals in Connecticut before founding the Department of Integrative Medicine at Hartford Hospital. She co-founded the Center for Integrative Medicine and Pain Management, which she operated in Hartford for four years. She is also certified as a practitioner of homeopathic medicine.
Dr. Punzo serves on the board of directors of the National Center for Homeopathy and is an active member of many professional organizations, including the National Coalition for Healthcare Renewal Foundation and the American Association of Integrative Medicine. Dr. Punzo has a certificate of achievement in Six Sigma green belt, a designation that recognizes her knowledge of process improvement tools that are used around the world to improve the delivery of health care.