James (Jim) Padilla, JD, became involved in patient safety after his family lost their six-year-old son, Christian, to medical error.  While in the hospital, Christian suffered a herniated brain a day following surgery to repair a blockage of his aorta.

Following this tragedy, Jim has dedicated himself to patient safety.  Jim has participated and spoken at numerous events on patient safety around the country about the nurse's role in providing safe care at the bedside and patient and family involvement in root cause analysis when something goes wrong.  Among others, Jim has spoken at the 2009 Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Summit (Chicago, IL), 2009 Michigan Society of Healthcare Risk Management Annual Conference (Traverse City, MI), Indiana Association of Student Nurses 2008 Annual Conference (Indianapolis, IN) and the Indiana University – East 2008 Annual Student Nurses Conference (Richmond, IN). 

Jim is currently an Assistant Professor of Sports Management at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI.  He has previously taught sports management and business law courses at the University of Saint Francis (Fort Wayne, IN) and Ball State University.  He also is an expert in the sports insurance industry where he has worked with hundreds of collegiate and professional athletes and organizations over the past 15 years.

Jim currently resides in Hudsonville, MI with his wife Vicki and their children, Julia, Jacob and Joseph.