In collaboration with the Greater New York Hospital Association
The Clinical Quality Fellowship Program (CQFP) supports the training and professional development of early- and mid-career physicians, nurses, and physician assistants to help them lead and champion quality improvement and patient safety efforts within their health care organizations.
Click below for the most recent CQFP brochure (pdf), which includes all program details, including the full calendar of events and a link to the electronic application.
Download 2025-26 CQFP Brochure
Why This Is Important
To drive quality improvement at their health care organizations, it is essential that clinical leaders understand the changing health care policy, payment, and regulatory environment, as well as the tools and techniques needed to enact meaningful organizational change in quality and patient safety.
The Program
Through an intensive 15-month training program, regional leaders in health care quality teach the Fellows proven tools and techniques to improve the quality, efficiency, and safety of patient care within their institutions. Participating Fellows then bring their new knowledge, skills, and strategies back to their organizations, where they are prepared to take on leadership roles and act as agents of change.
Program activities include two off-site retreats, monthly webinars, dinner meetings, and a half-day learning session. Central to the experience is the planning and implementation of a capstone quality improvement initiative at each Fellow’s home organization. Throughout the capstone learning process, each Fellow is guided by a faculty mentor, a particular benefit of the program.
The CQFP is co-led by UHF and the Greater New York Hospital Association and supported by a grant from UHF. Each year, applications are accepted beginning in September; the new class is selected in January and begins the program in March.
Impact
The CQFP has become an enduring support for quality improvement in greater New York area health care facilities; to date, over 300 clinicians have participated in the CQFP, helping to build the quality capacity at organizations throughout the region. The program has consistently received excellent feedback and reviews from participants, and it has grown considerably since its inception in 2009. Fellows are physicians, nurses and physician assistants and come from a wide range of specialties and settings, contributing to the richness of the learning experience.
Celebrating 10 Years of CQFP from GNYHA on Vimeo.
Joan leads UHF’s Quality Institute team and initiatives, focused on building quality capacity in health care organizations, engaging patients and families in care, and profiling quality. She directs the Clinical Quality Fellowship Program in partnership with Greater New York Hospital Association and develops and leads projects and learning collaboratives focused on implementing best practices and improving delivery of care.
Before joining UHF in 2017, Joan was director of quality improvement for Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, a 300-bed community hospital in New Jersey. There she managed the quality services department and was responsible for Joint Commission accreditation, CMS/TJC quality reporting, hospital performance improvement initiatives, the medical peer review process, and reporting of serious adverse events and the root cause analysis process. Earlier in her career she was director of standards for St. Barnabas Medical Center, also in New Jersey, and director of Accreditation and Standards Compliance and director of Program Development and Planning for NYU Langone Medical Center.
Joan holds a Master of Business Administration in Health Care Management from Boston University and a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from Tufts University. She is a Certified Professional in Health Quality and a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.