AARP NYS Director Beth Finkel to be Honored for Promoting Safety in Healthcare

NYers for Patient & Family Empowerment Cites Advocacy for Family Caregivers

NEW YORK, N.Y. – AARP New York State Director Beth Finkel will be honored tonight by a patients’ rights group for her successful advocacy on behalf of family caregivers.

New Yorkers for Patient & Family Empowerment noted Finkel “is spearheading an important effort to improve hospital engagement of family caregivers in the discharge planning process, for a better transition from hospital to home.”

Finkel and her team at AARP NY helped push the CARE Act (Caregiver Advise Record and Enable) through the state Legislature this year to help New Yorkers age safely at home.

The legislation, which will be sent to Governor Andrew Cuomo for his approval, would allow hospital patients to designate family caregivers and require hospitals to offer caregivers instruction and demonstrations in how to perform medical procedures patients will need after being discharged home.

Finkel is to be honored at New Yorkers for Patient & Family Empowerment’s “Preventing Harm, Promoting Safety in Healthcare” event from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Cherkasky-Davis Conference Center, 330 West 42nd Street, Manhattan.

“I’m pleased to receive this honor because it helps shine the spotlight on family caregivers and their growing importance to our healthcare system and our society,” Finkel said. “As our population ages and more of our elderly need care from a dwindling number of potential caregivers, my AARP colleagues and I are thrilled that our leaders are recognizing caregivers’ needs - and understanding that helping them helps us all.”

New Yorkers for Patient & Family Empowerment is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to empower patients and their loved ones in interacting with the healthcare system, strengthen public access to information on patient safety, and improve the quality and safety of healthcare in New York.

Robert Master, Director of Legislative/Political and Mobilization Activities for the Communications Workers of America District 1, and Arthur Levin, Director of the Center for Medical Consumers, are also to be honored.

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AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, with a membership of more than 37 million, that helps people turn their goals and dreams into real possibilities, strengthens communities and fights for the issues that matter most to families such as healthcare, employment and income security, retirement planning, affordable utilities and protection from financial abuse. We advocate for individuals in the marketplace by selecting products and services of high quality and value to carry the AARP name as well as help our members obtain discounts on a wide range of products, travel, and services.  A trusted source for lifestyle tips, news and educational information, AARP produces AARP The Magazine, the world's largest circulation magazine; AARP Bulletin;  www.aarp.org ; AARP TV & Radio; AARP Books; and AARP en Español, a Spanish-language website addressing the interests and needs of Hispanics. AARP does not endorse candidates for public office or make contributions to political campaigns or candidates. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity of AARP that is working to win back opportunity for struggling Americans 50+ by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today: housing, hunger, income and isolation. AARP has staffed offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Learn more at  www.aarp.org .

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