H&HN contributing editor shined light on health issues of the day

Emily Friedman, an independent writer, public speaker, teacher and health policy and ethics analyst based in Chicago, died Sunday after a brief illness. She was 68. Friedman was a contributing editor of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, published by the AHA’s Health Forum subsidiary, and a regular columnist for H&HN Daily. She had a large and loyal following for her bimonthly commentaries, which routinely elicited responses from well-known thought leaders in the field. “Emily Friedman had a knack for making complicated issues simple and speaking the truth, no matter how unpopular it might be,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “As an author and lecturer, her role was to eloquently and provocatively urge health care providers to look beyond all the sophisticated machinery, miraculous medicines and treatments — to the core of what a hospital does: taking care of people, one patient at a time. She will be sorely missed.”