Abdi Towfigh

We lost Abdi when he was only 30 years old. He personified all the strengths you would expect: strong, fit, confident, articulate, intelligent and compassionate. His softer qualities impressed everyone the most: warmth, humility, kindness, consideration and appreciation. We lost him to two medical mistakes while he was hospitalized, which were preventable by all means.

Both mistakes arose from reading another patient’s lab results and another patient’s CT scan results which resulted in him being injected with the wrong medication and undergoing an unnecessary surgery which took his life. Although nothing can undo the loss we all experience from losing a loved one, especially due to a preventable mistake, but sharing this pain can empower others to be more proactive and take a more active role in their healthcare and encourage a sense of excellence in a partnership between healthcare receivers and healthcare providers.

Excellence is the result of caring more than others think is wise, risking more than others think is safe, dreaming more than others think is practical, and expecting more than others think is possible. It is the commitment to high quality performance that produces outstanding results of lasting value.