Ms. Garcia leads quality and patient safety efforts across Valleywise Health’s high-acuity system, including a level 1 trauma center, burn center, psychiatric hospitals and community clinics. She played a pivotal role in the system earning its first-ever Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade of “A,” a milestone for a public safety-net hospital. Ms. Garcia oversees quality strategy across inpatient, behavioral health and ambulatory settings, managing initiatives like the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, Vizient platform integration and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection reduction. Under her leadership, the patient safety program expanded from one to three full time employees, and an outpatient surgical center was launched with full quality oversight. Her strategic and regulatory foresight supports readiness for CMS and state surveys while aligning safety metrics with executive leadership. Ms. Garcia also completed a fellowship with America’s Essential Hospitals, with a project centering on patient safety.
