Rebecca Kirch (NPAF) Rebecca Kirch is Executive Vice President of Healthcare Quality and Value for the National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF), the advocacy affiliate of the Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF). In this role, she provides strategic focus and leadership in bringing the millions of patient and family voices these two organizations represent to the forefront of national health care quality improvement efforts. As a leading health policy expert and advocate in her field, Rebecca is dedicated to improving quality of life and the quality of care for all adults, infants, children and families confronting serious illness.
Rebecca joined NPAF in April 2016, previously serving 15 years with the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). As the Society’s first Director of Quality of Life and Survivorship, she orchestrated development of its national agenda addressing pain, symptoms and distress experienced by patients, survivors, and caregivers, creating collaborative initiatives in research, programs and advocacy for integrated palliative, psychosocial, and rehabilitation services, as well as enhanced clinical communication skills. Kirch also played a leading role in planning and executing the Institute of Medicine and American Cancer Society 2015 joint workshop on “Comprehensive Cancer Care for Children and Families.” She is currently serving as a member of the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Quality Care for People with Serious Illness Roundtable, and as Quality of Life and Person-Centered Care task force co-chair for the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.