About Dr. Paul Sharek
Dr. Paul Sharek is an internationally recognized thought leader and transformational executive in pediatric healthcare, with a distinguished career dedicated to advancing the quality and safety of patient care. A pediatric hospitalist and esteemed scholar, he has held executive leadership roles at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Stanford Children’s Health, building and leading pioneering quality and patient safety programs that delivered quantifiable results.
My journey in medicine began with a desire to heal, but it was my early experiences as a pediatric hospitalist on the front lines that shaped my career’s direction. I realized that many of our most persistent challenges were not due to a lack of clinical knowledge, but to the complexity of the systems we work in. This insight ignited a passion to not only care for individual patients, but to heal the systems of care themselves.
A Foundation in Science and Service
My career has been built on a foundation of rigorous academic and clinical training, always with an eye toward systemic improvement. I earned my medical degree from the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, followed by a pediatric residency and chief residency at the University of California, San Francisco.
To gain the tools to tackle systemic healthcare challenges, I pursued a Masters of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed a fellowship in health services research (focus on quality and safety science) at Stanford University. This specialized training was the catalyst for my life's work: translating improvement science and high reliability theory into practical strategies that demonstrably improve quality and patient safety outcomes.
Executive Leadership in Practice: Stanford & Seattle Children’s
For the past 25 years, I have had the privilege of holding a series of healthcare leadership positions. At Stanford, I served as the Medical Director of the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Center for Quality and Clinical Effectiveness, and the inaugural Chief Patient Safety Officer. More recently, at Seattle Children’s, I was the inaugural Vice President and Chief Quality and Safety Officer, the Associate Chief Medical Officer for Quality and Safety, and served as interim co-Chief Medical Officer.
In these roles, my mission was to build the culture, infrastructure, and accountability necessary for sustainable excellence. At Stanford, I designed and implemented the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Center for Quality and Clinical Effectiveness, and at Seattle Children’s I established the hospital’s Center for Quality and Patient Safety while designing and deploying the first Seattle Children’s Quality and Safety Strategic Plan.
In both systems, I partnered closely with executive colleagues, the Board of Trustees, faculty and staff to align the entire organization around a shared vision for quality and safety. This collaborative work culminated in Seattle Children’s being named to the US News and World Report Children’s Hospital Honor Roll in 2024 and 2025, an honor reserved for the top 10 children’s hospitals in the United States.
Driving Improvement on a National & Global Scale
I firmly believe collaboration is essential to accelerating improvement. This belief has driven my involvement in national and international quality and safety initiatives. I was a founding member of the Solutions for Patient Safety Collaborative and the first Director of Quality Improvement for the California Perinatal Quality of Care Collaborative. I have provided long-standing guidance to the Children’s Hospital Association on its quality and safety strategic efforts, including helping to integrate collaborative quality improvement models into its national initiatives.
My global influence is demonstrated through a multitude of visiting professorships, my work as a former faculty member for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and as a three-time scholar in residence, "Expert," and mentor at the International Society for Quality in Healthcare in Dublin, Ireland.
Today, I continue to contribute to the field as a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington and an Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University. I am a sought-after visiting professor, and in that role have had the honor of providing guidance on quality and patient safety strategy to senior leadership at dozens of leading children’s hospitals across the globe, including:
* Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London
* The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto
* Children’s National Hospital in Washington D.C.
* Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
* Children’s Hospital Colorado
Additionally, I have consulted directly with St. Louis Children’s Hospital and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help analyze, design, and build their present-day quality and patient safety programs.
My work, demonstrating improvements in such outcomes as mortality, infections, medical errors, medication errors, and culture of safety, has been published over 100 times in leading journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), and Pediatrics.
One of the most rewarding parts of my career is mentoring a cadre of emerging quality and safety leaders across the United States. Through this commitment to mentorship, scholarship, and pragmatic leadership, I aim to help shape the next generation of quality and safety leaders, and drive improvement in healthcare systems worldwide.
Commitment to Scholarship & Mentorship
My Path Forward
Throughout my career, from the bedside to the boardroom, my greatest satisfaction has come from empowering teams to achieve what they once thought was impossible. As I retire from my full-time executive role, I am bringing this passion and experience directly to organizations ready to embark on their own transformational journey. I believe in pragmatic solutions, deep partnership, and the relentless pursuit of a safer, more reliable future for every patient and staff member.
My career is grounded in rigorous academic and clinical training, always focused on advancing systemic healthcare improvement.
Elite Academic Training
Clinical & Research Leadership
