“Leadership and Learning Are Indispensable to Each Other.”
~John F. Kennedy
September 23, 2011
Dear Colleagues and Friends:
Grand Opening, Grand Visitors and Grand News …
Congratulations to Dean Connie Drisko and faculty, staff, residents and students on the grand opening of the new College of Dental Medicine (CDM). Today is a day of celebration not only for the CDM, but also GHSU. Please take time to visit the CDM and tour the magnificent building. We have had the pleasure of many visitors to our campus today including many Community leaders, Governor Deal and Chancellor Huckaby. At the Board of Regents’ meeting this month, Chancellor Huckaby outlined three initiatives which we want to pass on: space utilization, new procedures for building design and potential for consolidation of institutions. Please see http://www.usg.edu/chancellor/speeches/ for the Chancellor’s full remarks. Also at the BOR meeting, Regents voted to include a request for $28 million in bond funding for our $55 million Education Commons building, which is planned to adjoin the CDM and a new building for MCG. The bond funding request is great news for us all, as the Education Commons building is one stepping stone for medical and dental education expansion.
Our Students Learning and Leading …
Our students have been busy ‘learning’ this year as evidenced by involvement this summer in the 10 week Medical Scholars Program where they pursued a scientific interest. The program brings together students as well as clinical and lab researchers which gives students opportunities to explore clinical areas as well as research interests they may not see until later medical school experiences. This year saw increased participation by both students and mentors. Eighty-five poster presentations were highlighted this week, spanning basic science (i.e., cancer cell biology) through clinical services (i.e., quality improvement enhancements). Congrats to our students and thanks also to their mentors.
Past Dean’s Diaries acknowledged students and residents for their volunteerism and again they are leading the pack with community involvement. Several not only mentor middle and high students through St. Luke UMC’s mentor program, but also live in the community. In one program they are involved in – Kids With A Future – they not only share meals and fun times with kids, but also help with school lessons. Our students also showed up ‘big’ for Camp Hargrove which is a sponsored event of the Brain Injury Association of Georgia. Thanks to our students and residents who are making a difference with ‘our future leaders’.
Joint Commission Names Top Performers …
Recently Joint Commission released the 2011 annual report on quality and safety naming 405 organizations as top performing hospitals Results show improvement over prior years in quality of care for heart attack, pneumonia, surgical and children’s asthma care. Results are based on 22 accountability measures from hospitals in 45 states. The study showed smaller, rural hospitals were overrepresented, while larger academic hospitals were underrepresented. This should serve as a wakeup call to larger hospitals that didn’t score as high. We are also working hard to prepare for new measures in place on January 1, 2012 requiring all hospitals to score at least 85% on these metrics.
Patient Family Centered Care … We Lead and Spread the Word …
Our PFCC program is recognized nationally for our commitment and quality to patient and family centered care. Our thanks to Mr. Bernard Robinson and all of you who put together a wonderful and invigorating fall Patient Family Centered Care (PFCC) External Learning Lab. We had clinical leaders from Onslow Memorial Health, Nemours Children’s Hospital, and Kaiser Permanente come to learn from us.
Movers and Shakers …
Ok … so MCG Foundation isn’t shaking anything, but they are moving… today in fact to 545 15th Street (old Mooney Shoe Store building). Campus mail will be delivered here. Telephone and fax will remain unchanged. We wish them every success.
Maximum Accreditation for Emergency Medicine … Great News! …
Please join us in congratulating Emergency Medicine faculty, staff, and residents along with our GME team and all others involved in training of EM residents. The Residency Review Committee has awarded our program with maximum five years accreditation. This deems our program to be among the most elite in the country. We very much appreciate your hard work and readiness for this evaluation.
Family Medicine Receives Major Federal Service Awards …
Family Medicine recently received notice of HRSA training grant awards in support of plans for the Patient Center Medical Home transformation of their teaching practices. Dr. Hobbs and his team also received award support for their program of distributed statewide networks of student and resident educational venues in urban, suburban and rural settings (with a special emphasis on rural). New extramural support along with last year’s grant provides access to fundamental resources necessary to facilitate this educational/practice/and practice base research infrastructure transformation. Congratulations on the awards for this worthwhile program.
New Faculty Reception … Building New Friendships Across Our GHSU and Augusta Communities …
Many thanks to Dr. Ron Lewis, MCG Faculty Senate President and Dr. Dan Walton, Richmond County Medical Society Chair and Ms. Laurie Lane for a wonderful New Faculty Reception for our MCG physicians as well as RCMS physicians. This was an inaugural year of hosting the reception with the RCMS. We greatly appreciate the turnout and look forward to many gatherings with our colleagues who have joined our ‘GHSU Family’.
Upcoming Dates and Events …
Tomorrow – GHSU Family Day and MCG White Coat Ceremony
Family Day begins in the Wellness Center at 10:30 am. MCG White Coat Ceremony will be at 2:30 pm, Warren Baptist Church. Please join us!
September 27, 2011 – GHSU Arts Council “Performing Live Noon Music”
MCG is sponsoring the first ‘Noon Music’ of the academic year (Tuesday). Please come along for an hour of fun, relaxation, and great entertainment provided by faculty, residents, staff and students. Future events – December 16, February 14 and April 10.
September 28, 2011 – President’s Lecture Series
Dr. Eli Adashi, world renowned academic healthcare leader will speak on Wednesday at Noon in the Lee Auditoria Center. We will see you there.
October 4, 2011 – President’s State of the Enterprise Address
We will see you at Dr. Azziz’s State of the Enterprise Address – Lee Auditoria Center.
November 3, 2011 – Inaugural Lois T Ellison, MD Lectureship in Physiology
We invite you to attend the Inaugural Lectureship where Dr. Marlene Rabinvotich will be the guest speaker – Health Sciences Building – 5 pm.
Many thanks for all you do for MCG and GHSU.