MOMENTUM UPDATE
FROM THE DESK OF DR. MICHAEL JOHNS
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE
ROBERT W. WOODRUFF HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER
May 2006
CONGRATULATIONS ALL AROUND
I want to dedicate this edition of Momentum Update to the many outstanding students, faculty, and staff that comprise the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. It is that time of the year when students graduate from the various schools at Emory and move forward in their lives. I would like to recognize the more than 700 Woodruff Health Sciences Center students from the Schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing who will graduate this month and go on to build upon the knowledge acquired during their studies here at Emory as they pursue their respective careers in healthcare. I congratulate each of you for your hard work.
It says quite a bit about dedication and loyalty when you can honor employees for 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years of service, as Emory University and Emory Healthcare recently did. It also says quite a bit about the work environment when a company can boast of retaining excellent employees in a day and age when most individuals will make frequent job changes in the course of a career. The Woodruff Health Sciences Center is extremely proud to claim over 240 employees who were recently honored for 20 or more years of service. It is with great pride that I mention Ms. Vera Hull (40 years), and Mr. Dale Rice (40 years). It is particularly rewarding to recognize Mr. Willie Humphries, a property management staff member at Emory Crawford Long Hospital. Thank you, Mr. Humphries, for 45 years (yes, 45 years!!) of outstanding service to Emory.
As many of you are aware, each year the University honors exemplary employees who have made significant contributions to the Emory community through their initiative, innovation, or leadership. The 2006 Award of Distinction honorees included three WHSC individuals: Ellen Hale (Pediatrics), Steven Marzec (Biomedical Engineering), and Neville Whitehead (Animal Resources). I congratulate each of you for enhancing the environment for all of us here at Emory.
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE
A reminder - please mark your calendar for Thursday, June 8, 4:30 - 6:00 p.m., in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center Administration Building auditorium, for a glimpse into the future of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. I will present the "State of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center" as well as key points of Vision 2012, which will help us create a new model for transforming health and healing in the 21st century. Each and every one of you is vital to implementing this vision, so I hope you will join me on June 8 to learn what lies ahead.
MAKING PEOPLE HEALTHY IN THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA
Dr. Ken Walker, a professor in the School of Medicine who heads the Atlanta-Tbilisi (Georgia) Healthcare Partnership, received USAID's Outstanding Citizen Achievement Citation on April 19 for his work in helping establish the first modern pediatric emergency room in a pediatric hospital in any post-Soviet country. To accomplish this, he partnered with Dr. Irakli Sasania, the chief administrator of M. Iashvili Central Children's Hospital in Tbilisi. Dr. Walker was personally commended by Republic of Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili and was previously named an honorary citizen of Georgia. Dr. Walker is one of a number of WHSC faculty who have played a role in improving health care in the Republic of Georgia. The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, for example, helped create the curriculum to establish the first-ever university-level nursing school in that country. I want to extend my personal thanks and congratulations to Dr. Walker and others for their work, and for leading Emory students in these efforts.
EMORY HEALTHCARE CELEBRATES SUCCESSFUL FORD TOUR DE GEORGIA
As I mentioned in April, Emory Healthcare had an excellent branding opportunity when it partnered for the second year in a row with the Ford Tour de Georgia as the provider of medical support to some of the world's premier cyclists as they participated in the grueling six-day, 601.5-mile race that toured 12 cities. The race has now concluded, and we have received excellent feedback on our sponsorship efforts. The Emory Healthcare medical team treated a total of 44 patients for everything from sprains and sunburn to anaphylactic shock and pneumonia.
Emory Healthcare developed a Tour de Georgia educational booklet designed to educate children on bike safety along with the importance of exercise and healthy eating. 20,000 copies of the 18-page, full-color booklet were distributed to elementary school students across Georgia.
DNA-BASED AIDS VACCINE ENTERS NEW CLINICAL TRIAL
I continue to follow with great interest (and hope) the progress of an AIDS vaccine developed with a DNA prime-boost strategy pioneered by Dr. Harriet Robinson, Chief of Microbiology at Yerkes National Primate Research Center and a faculty member of the Emory Vaccine Center. The vaccine entered a new trial in April at several sites around the country. The new trial includes a dose-escalation study to evaluate safety and immune responses to low and high doses and determine optimal dosing schedules. Dr. Robinson and her team have done exceptional work in developing this vaccine.
DEAN CURRAN DISCUSSES AIDS PANDEMIC ON FRONTLINE
Please plan to watch "The Age of AIDS," May 30 and 31, 9:00-11:00 p.m. on PBS's Frontline. Dean Jim Curran of the Rollins School of Public Health is one of the featured experts discussing the AIDS pandemic 25 years after the first case of AIDS was diagnosed in 1981. Before becoming dean of RSPH in 1995, Dr. Curran spent many years with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He coordinated the CDC's task force on acquired immune deficiency in response to the then new epidemic, directed the CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, and also served as assistant surgeon general. Watch also for Dean Curran and other colleagues (Drs. Carlos del Rio, David Malebranche, and Dennis Liotta) in promotional TV spots about this major national production.
THE STEINWAY AT EMORY CRAWFORD LONG HOSPITAL IS GRAND
Emory Crawford Long Hospital is working to redefine patient expectations of a hospital environment. Ms. Laura Hardman, a trustee of Emory University, suggested that Emory Crawford Long's three-story atrium was "crying out for live music." This became possible with the renovation of a 1911 Steinway grand piano originally donated by the Crawford Long School of Nursing. Live music in the atrium also allows the hospital to partner with the Emory University Music Department. During the month of May, Mr. Gary Motley, Director of Jazz Studies at Emory, will be part of a jazz duo playing from 3 - 5 p.m. on Thursday afternoons. If you get the chance, please stop by Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Thursday afternoons during May and enjoy the jazz!
DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS
Have you ever neglected details? Maybe you were assembling a product, and you just could not force yourself to read through pages and pages of detailed instructions. The result may have been that the lawn mower handle was attached backwards, or you finished assembling a piece of furniture and you had way too many parts left over! Maybe you were given driving directions, and you simply did not pay attention and therefore could not remember whether you turn left at the second red light, or turn right at the third red light. We all know what happens when details are overlooked.
Paying close and careful attention to details is often what separates good results from great results. The highest quality visions, placed into action by the greatest of strategies, can only be executed if the details of implementation are given ultimate attention. That is the attention our Quality and Safety initiatives will receive at Emory Healthcare, our Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health, at Yerkes, and all across the Woodruff Health Sciences Center.
Our leadership will invariably have to delegate and empower others, but we don't ever want to delegate the responsibility of paying attention to details. I take great pride that we have 15,000+ employees within the Woodruff Health Sciences Center who do pay attention to tens of thousands of details every single day. That is incredibly reassuring!
Thank you for your dedication and all of your efforts in Making People Healthy.
Sincerely,
Michael M.E. Johns, MD
CEO, Woodruff Health Sciences Center