Karen Timmons Leaves JCI
Karen H. Timmons announced her plan to leave her position of president and chief executive officer of Joint Commission Resources (JCR) and Joint Commission International (JCI), effective July 1, 2010. Timmons has served in this role since December 1999.
JCR and its international division, JCI, are not-for-profit affiliates of The Joint Commission that are working to improve health care quality and patient safety around the world. Today, JCI provides services in 90 countries, working with Ministries of Health and other key stakeholders. JCI is known as the “Gold Seal” internationally, and has accredited and certified health care organizations in 41 countries.
“Karen has provided excellent leadership for JCR and JCI and for The Joint Commission for the last 34 years,” says Mark R. Chassin, M.D., president of The Joint Commission. “She and her team have guided JCR and JCI through dramatic growth that has helped these organizations earn reputations as worldwide leaders in helping health care organizations prosper by improving quality of care and patient safety. We are grateful for her service and her commitment.”
Timmons’ Accomplishments
Prior to her tenure at JCR and JCI, Timmons was executive vice president for support operations at The Joint Commission. Her work at The Joint Commission included the formative Agenda for Change, the construction of The Joint Commission’s Central Office in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, and the first release of accreditation information to the public.
Since 2005, Timmons has served as the primary liaison with the World Health Organization (WHO), which designated The Joint Commission and JCI as the first Collaborating Centre for Patient Safety Solutions dedicated to the development of patient safety solutions. She chairs the International Steering Committee of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Patient Safety Solutions, and has led the JCI Regional Advisory Groups in the Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East regions. She currently serves on the Planetree Board of Directors, and is a past board member and treasurer for the International Society of Quality Assurance (ISQua). Timmons has served as chair of the World Health Organization’s HIV Quality of Care Working Group on HIV-AIDS and was appointed to serve on the Scientific Council of ANAES, the French National Agency for Accreditation and Evaluation in Health. She is also past chair of ISQua’s Agenda for Leadership in Programs for Healthcare Accreditation (ALPHA) Council. The ALPHA Council was the first worldwide body to bring together national and other major health care accreditation organizations to develop a global approach to aligning health care standards and accreditation processes. In addition to her international involvement, Timmons is a former member of the National Advisory Board for the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut, and she served on the Parents’ Board of Directors for DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. Timmons earned a Master of Management degree from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a Master of Arts degree from Fairfield University. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Connecticut.
The Joint Commission Board of Commissioners appointed Paula Wilson as president and CEO of JCR and JCI until a permanent successor can be identified. Wilson was previously the vice president for policy at the United Hospital Fund, leading efforts to shape public policy changes related to insurance coverage, health care financing, and Medicaid. She currently serves as adjunct faculty at Columbia University of International and Public Affairs and is a member of the faculty at the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University.