On Friday, August 3rd, after a long illness, Ruth Ravich passed away at the age of 80. Ruth was a visionary, a mentor, and the consummate professional. In her work at Mount Sinai Medical Center, she created a department that had real impact not only on the experience of patients and their families but also on the culture of the institution. Under Ruth’s leadership patient representation at Mount Sinai was as at home in the boardroom and the lecture hall as it was at the bedside.

Ruth Ravich was a founder of the New York Society of Patient Representatives (now the NY SHCA) and the genius behind the creation of the National Society of Patient Representatives (now the SHCA) of the American Hospital Association. It was as a founder of both these organizations that Ruth climbed to the pinnacle of professional excellence (and took all of us with her). Ruth was also a founder and original faculty member of the Masters Program in Health Advocacy at Sarah Lawrence College. The debt of gratitude that all patient representatives — past, present and future — owe to Ruth Ravich is inestimable. She didn’t just write a job description; she founded a profession.

Ruth always encouraged patient representatives to “write more” and to get published in professional peer-reviewed journals. She had high standards and I can recall several times when she took me to task for falling short of them. At the same time, Ruth would always call me or send a note of encouragement when she liked something I wrote or when I published a little book of readings in patient advocacy. I remember the national conference when the Ruth Ravich Founder’s Award was announced. Ruth ascended the podium and at the conclusion of her remarks she described herself as the “grandmother” of our profession. I will always prefer to think of Ruth instead as the “midwife” who brought our profession to birth and who continued to nurture us throughout our history.

We will miss Ruth Ravich. She set the standard for all of us to strive for — it’s now up to us, patient representatives, to keep her legacy alive. May she rest in peace.

Ruth Ravich and I became friends when I sought her out before I established the Patient Representative program at New York University Medical Center in l973. I also visited with Ann Cote (now Taylor) who at that time was the head of Patient Representatives at New York Hospital.

In l973, Ruth was finishing her year as President of the National Society and I attended their meeting in Miami Beach, Florida, preparatory to establishing my program at NYU.

We would get together periodically and then, about three years ago, Ruth became ill and had an adverse diagnosis. This came after she had a spinal fusion and subsequently a hip replacement. I made it a practice to keep in touch with Ruth and visit with her. Sometimes I brought lunch in to her big apartment, and sometimes, when she felt a little better, we could meet outside, have lunch and go to a movie. It was a trip down a long and slippery slope. She was very game, and during her illness, made trips to Florida to see her new great-grandchildren. Early in the illness, she took a trip to see an eclipse off the coast of South America. She was a very gutsy lady and a pioneer in the field of Patient Representation.

On Sunday, I attended her funeral where her family told of their wonderful  relationships. She was a great and truly good person, who started something very worthwhile which has been of benefit to many patients and to hospital administration.