Patient Advocate, Becky Martins has been helping patients and families navigate the health care system for 25 years.
Martin's advocacy spirit derives from the days when she was driving a family member 150 miles round-trip, three days a week to dialysis treatments. She spent countless hours at the dialysis unit visiting with patients and their families. Through their stories, she learned of the many challenges that patients living with chronic illness face. The experience became the impetus for her advocacy on behalf of end stage renal disease patients. In 1996, Becky was the recipient of the Kidney Foundation of Maine Board of Trustees Service Award for 10 years of service.
In 2002, Martins founded Voice4Patients.Com: an initiative to empower patients to be their own health care advocates. The site advocated building partnerships between patients and providers - and provided information and tools to strengthen consumer skills.
Becky is a Founding Member of Consumers Advancing Patient Safety, a Texas Medical Institute of Technology (TMIT) Patient Advocate Team Member, a Patients for Patient Safety Champion of the World Healthcare Organization's World Alliance of Patient Safety and past member of National Patient Safety Foundation's Patient & Family Advisory Councils. She was a contributor to "Opportunities for Patient and Family Involvement. Chapter nine of the National Quality Forum. Safe Practices for Better Healthcare- 2009 Update: A Consensus Report."
The 121st Maine Legislature presented Martins with a Special Sentiment for her patient safety advocacy. She is a recipient of the Pete Conrad Patient Safety Excellence Award.
