New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo Honored with GSA Award
Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York State, was honored with a GSA Award for implementing life-saving sepsis protocols in all New York State hospitals. These protocols, also known as 'Rory Regulations', named after Rory Staunton, who died of sepsis in 2012 in New York, have saved more than 5,000 lives already, and will save countless in the future. Since their introduction, there has been a 20 percent increase in the identification of sepsis and a decrease in sepsis mortality rates in adults from 30.2 percent to 25.4 percent in New York.
Dr. Carl Flatley, founder of the Sepsis Alliance and the Erin Kay Flatley Memorial Foundation, presented the Global Sepsis Award to Marcus Friedrich, the Chief Medical Officer to the New York State Department of Health, who accepted the award on behalf of Governor Cuomo.
“New York State has been leading the fight against sepsis and, as the data shows, our efforts are working to save lives and increase early detection and treatment of this deadly condition,” said New York State Commissioner of Health Dr. Howard Zucker. “Thanks especially goes to Ciaran and Orlaith Staunton for their advocacy and continuing to fight in Rory’s memory to prevent further tragedies. It is our hope the rest of the nation recognizes the success that can be achieved by using Rory’s Regulations as a model for combatting and ultimately ending sepsis infections once and for all.”
“The sepsis protocols implemented by Governor Cuomo are already saving lives and will save many more,“ said Dr. Carl Flatley, who is also Chairman of the GSA Awards Jury. “If these types of protocols had been in place in Florida when my daughter Erin became ill with sepsis, they may have saved her life.”
Prior awardees in the category of Governments and Healthcare Authorities were UK Secretary of Health J. Hunt, the Turkish Minister of Health M. Müezzinoglu, and Federal Minister of State to Chancellor A. Merkel Helge Braun. The Global Sepsis Award winners were chosen by the GSA Award Jury, which is a panel of internationally recognized experts in patient safety and sepsis management.
“The GSA Award Jury was absolutely impressed, not only by Governor Cuomo’s introduction of these protocols in all New York State hospitals, but also with his decision to carefully monitor the results of their implementation,” said Dr. Konrad Reinhart, Chair of Global Sepsis Alliance. “We hope other states and countries will follow in Governor Cuomo’s footsteps and implement similar programs that will save lives from sepsis.”