The Center for Patient Partnerships
Facilitator Biographies
Program Facilitators hail from the Center for Patient Partnerships, an interdisciplinary educational center training future lawyers, doctors, social workers, pharmacists, business professionals and policy makers in the art and science of patient advocacy. Founded by Martha Gaines and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin, the Center has provided advocacy services to more than 1,200 patients and trained countless students. Advocacy services include assistance in medical decision-making, gaining access to quality care, negotiating with insurers, sorting out employment issues, planning for medical debt, and transitioning from recovery to survivorship.
The Session Leaders
Martha Gaines
Martha (Meg) Gaines, JD, LLM, is Clinical Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School and is also the Director of the Center. She has been featured in the New York Times and NPR and has most recently co-authored "Educating for Health Advocacy in Settings of Higher Education" in Patient Advocacy: Patient Centered Strategies for Improving Healthcare Quality, edited by J. Earp et. al. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc. (In Press). In 1994, Meg was diagnosed with ovarian cancer which ultimately spread to her liver. In early 1995, a doctor told her to "go home and think about the quality, not the quantity" of her remaining days. But Meg did not go home and die. She went on an odyssey around the United States and found the surgeon who would save her life. This experience ultimately led her to found the Center for Patient Partnerships.
Sarah Davis
Sarah Davis, JD, MPA, is Associate Director of the Center. She teaches and develops curriculum in health advocacy, health care rights and responsibilities, and consumer issues in health systems and health care delivery. Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Davis was in private practice, which included employment law. She is co-author of "Educating for Health Advocacy in Settings of Higher Education".
Mary Michaud
Mary Michaud, MPP, is Director of Evaluation and Policy at the Center. Mary has worked in and around health care for fifteen years in educational design, consumer research and performance measurement. Among responsibilities in teaching, planning and outreach, Mary runs a program funded by the Susan G. Komen Foundation to train a group of breast cancer survivors in patient advocacy. She holds a Masters in Public Policy Studies and Health Administration from the University of Chicago.
Port in the Storm Advisory Board
Special thanks to the Port in the Storm Advisory Board members:
- Susan Fuszard MS, CEAP, EAP Specialist
- Sue Hunter MS, CEAP, EAP Director of the Department of Transportation
- Bob Swanson SPHR, State Director of the Wisconsin Society for Human Resource Management
Want to Help?
As the Center for Patient Partnerships grows, you can help educate, advocate and innovate to make health systems more consumer-centered. Though we do not charge for our advocacy services, we welcome contributions to the Center. Please join the mission by contributing!
