Wiki Erickson, MA

Wiki Erickson

Wiki Erickson

Wiki Erickson has been in higher education for nearly twenty years as a Lecturer of Spanish at Baylor University and other academic institutions. Additionally she served for over seven years as a public board member and officer for the Texas State Board of Pharmacy, appointed by then Governor George Bush. She is now a lifetime member of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Currently she is a professional interpreter and translator for various Texas agencies and entities. As an avid participant in volunteerism, community service and mentoring, Professor Erickson has served in numerous capacities in a vast array of civic, academic and social organizations at different levels. She is known for her leadership skills and commitment to a variety of causes and movements.
She describes her motivation for being a Board of Director of INSPIRE CCM as: “The inception of my interest in patient advocacy began while my son, a physician, was admitted to ICU at one of the top medical centers in the country at the end of 2009. In spite of the high standards and quality care that he received, the length of his stay and intense involvement in his care afforded me a first hand experience of the practices, care, routine and protocol for the ICU patients.
And while the care he received can only be fairly categorized as superior, it became evident to both his father–an attorney–and to me that numerous flaws in the system, the medical and professional care, the transmission of information, communication skills, and several other related issues were in existence during his lengthy stay in the ICU.

Other issues of concern regarding our son’s highly critical condition and our inability at times to obtain satisfactory answers to some of our questions made us aware in hindsight, that changes in procedures, better training and more importantly, patient advocacy are very much needed in this area.
Tragically, our son, who was on life support and unable to participate in any of the decision-making process, died. The intensity of my grief and the fact that our son was highly invested in the cause of better patient care led me to decide to channel my emotions by embarking on a mission or cause that would embody both my son’s and my concerns for higher standards and improvement in quality care for the ICU patients.

Having developed friendship with Dr. Hadian, whom I had the opportunity to meet during our son’s stay in the ICU, it became apparent to me that I would be most pleased to serve as one of the INSPIRE CCM Board of Directors.