Summary:
You can’t build a true culture of patient safety without psychological safety.
In this episode, Dr. Renee Thompson sits down with Dr. Stephanie Stovall, Chief Quality Officer at OSF HealthCare, to unpack the very real link between workplace culture and clinical outcomes. Stephanie explains why fear of being “picked apart” or punished makes people less likely to speak up. That silence puts patients at risk. She shares a pivotal early-career story about a medication decision, and how strong feedback, paired with a follow-up conversation, can protect patients and build confidence instead of shame. They also dig into what it looks like when safety becomes “as automatic as getting dressed,” why anonymous reporting can signal low psychological safety, and how real-time debriefs shift teams from blame to collaborative problem-solving.
Tune in to hear practical ways leaders can build trust, strengthen speaking-up behaviors, and make Safety everyone’s job, every day.
About Dr. Stephanie Stovall:
Dr. Stephanie Stovall is the Chief Quality Officer at OSF HealthCare in Peoria, Illinois, where she leads enterprise efforts to strengthen quality, safety, and high-reliability care. Before OSF, she spent more than a decade at Lee Health in Fort Myers, serving as Chief Quality and Safety Officer while also practicing as a pediatric infectious diseases physician for over 13 years. Her leadership experience also includes key roles at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida, including interim Chief Quality and Patient Safety and Medical Director positions focused on pediatric epidemiology, infectious diseases, and quality and safety.
A clinician by training and a safety leader by calling, Dr. Stovall is passionate about the link between how teams treat each other and how safely care is delivered. She emphasizes that psychological safety is the foundation for a true culture of patient safety, because people are far more likely to speak up and prevent harm when they feel safe to do so. She earned an MS in Healthcare Quality and Safety from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed pediatric infectious diseases fellowship training at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
What You’ll Learn In This Episode:
- Psychological safety is not optional. It is the foundation for patient safety.
- Fear of punishment or being “picked apart” reduces speaking up, and silence creates risk.
- In-the-moment corrections should be clear and direct, especially when safety is at stake.
- “Closing the loop” after abrupt feedback helps the learner feel supported instead of shamed.
- Culture should feel automatic. Safety should be as routine as getting dressed for work.
- Anonymous reporting can be a signal that people do not feel safe raising concerns openly.
- Safety measurement is more than a number: trends, context, and timing matter.
- Real-time debriefs and structured reviews reduce blame and help teams address recurring patterns.
Links & Resources:
- Connect with and follow Dr. Stephanie Stovall on LinkedIn.
- Follow OSF Healthcare on LinkedIn and visit their website!
- Listen to 33 Scripts to Address Disruptive Behavior here.
- Buy Renee Thompson’s book Enough! Eradicating Bullying & Incivility here!
- Learn more about the Eradicating Bullying & Incivility eLearning Program here!
Have a question for Renee?
Email us at [email protected] to have your leadership question featured in an upcoming Q&A episode!
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