PARAMUS, N.J. — Valley Health System has named Paul C. Yodice, MD, FCCP, FCCM, as its new Patient Safety Officer, bringing more than 30 years of experience in critical care, quality improvement and health system leadership to the role.

Yodice will work with physicians, nurses and interdisciplinary teams across Valley Health to advance quality and patient safety, identify opportunities to improve care and help prevent patient safety events.

“My goal is to ensure that everyone understands that safety requires doing what we know is right to provide our patients with high-quality outcomes,” Yodice said. “If there is an endeavor that doctors or any staff believe can benefit patients or each other, we should sit down, discuss, and implement it.”

Before joining Valley, Yodice served as Chair of Medicine for the Southern Region and Jersey Shore University Medical Center, part of Hackensack Meridian Health, in Neptune. He previously served as Chair of Medicine for the Central Region and JFK University Medical Center in Edison.

Yodice spent 17 years at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, now Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, in Livingston. He served as Chairman of the Department of Medicine and Director of Critical Care and ICU, as well as Director of Clinical Excellence and Effectiveness for RWJBarnabas Health.

Throughout his career, Yodice has led efforts focused on improving patient outcomes, reducing hospital stays and readmissions, preventing hospital-acquired infections and advancing evidence-based care.

He also helped lead New Jersey's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Health.

Yodice has held academic appointments at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Most recently, he served as a professor of medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, St. George's School of Medicine and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, where he repeatedly received Teacher of the Year recognition.

“My role is to help others when they see an opportunity to improve their environment,” Yodice said. “It’s about helping to take down the barriers to care and helping determine how we can prevent the occurrence of adverse events.”

Yodice earned his medical degree from New York Medical College and his bachelor's degree in biology from New York University. He completed his internal medicine internship, residency and chief residency at Saint Vincent's Hospital & Medical Center in New York, followed by a fellowship in critical care medicine.

He is board-certified in internal medicine, critical care medicine and neurocritical care and is a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians and the American College of Critical Care Medicine.

In addition to his new role as Patient Safety Officer, Yodice will practice critical care medicine at The Valley Hospital in Paramus.