Feinstein Fellowship Alumni Spotlight: Laxmi Velankar

Laxmi Velankar, an alumna of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation’s 2021 Patient Safety Fellowship, is dedicated to enhancing healthcare quality and outcomes.

Formerly a physical therapist at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and the DePaul School for Hearing and Speech, Velankar specialized in providing clinical rehabilitation services that enhance movement and function for pediatric patients. Velankar’s passion for improving healthcare quality led her to earn a master’s degree in health informatics from the University of Pittsburgh, where she gained expertise in designing databases, extracting and analyzing healthcare data, and implementing research and quality improvement projects. She also holds a Data Analytics certification and a Green Belt in Lean Healthcare.

Currently, Velankar is a Quality Improvement Specialist in UPMC’s Department of Ophthalmology, where she uses data-driven strategies to streamline workflows and improve clinical outcomes as part of her commitment to clinical excellence.