Mr. Bartels is the president and founder of Safety Management Services, Inc. (SMS, Inc). During his 40+ year career, Mr. Bartels has managed safety programs in three major teaching hospitals in the Midwest and been a consultant on The Joint Commission®’s Physical Environment (i. e., Environment of Care®, Life Safety, Emergency Management) standards to hundreds of facilities. Mr. Bartels has served as a consultant and faculty member to The Joint Commission as well as teaching numerous national and regionally-based programs over the years for the AHA and the National Safety Council. He has also served on the NFPA® Life Safety Code 101® Committee and published numerous articles related to facility, safety and The Joint Commission standards.

Mr. Bartels has personally prepared Statement of Conditions™ and completed Life Safety Code evaluations for hundreds of facilities over the past 40 years. In addition to direct consultation, Mr. Bartels teaches seminars nationally on the topics of Compliance with The Joint Commission’s standards, NFPA/Life Safety Code, Hospital Incident Command Systems, Patient Safety, Building Maintenance Programs, Emergency Management and preparation for The Joint Commission survey. Mr. Bartels personally attends and represents SMS, Inc.’s clients during their Joint Commission surveys every year, and is considered a nationally-recognized authority on healthcare regulatory issues. In addition to consulting with The Joint Commission’s healthcare standards, Mr. Bartels is a DNV-Trained Healthcare Surveyor and a trained ISO Lead Auditor.