Zero preventable hospital deaths: How one nonprofit is making safety its mission

When Alicia Cole went to a hospital in Burbank, California, in August 2006 to have two small fibroids removed, she never imagined that what was supposed to be a two-day stay would end up being two months. The cause? Hospital-acquired infections, including MRSA and flesh-eating disease. "Eight years later, and I am still in recovery from the infections I got in the hospital," Cole says. "I was christened by fire" into patient advocacy, she continues. "I've been fighting since August 2006 – for my life, my bandages and my aftercare, because unfortunately when there is hospital-acquired harm, often hospitals don't want to help you out because doing so is an admission of liability," she says.