Executive Notes

Patricia Tietjen, MD
VPMA Danbury Hospital and New Milford Hospital

The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons presented the Praxair Cancer Center at Danbury Hospital with the 2015 Outstanding Achievement Award. The Hospital is one of only 27 US Healthcare facilities to receive this recognition. The award recognizes the outstanding effort and commitment by the entire cancer program in exceeding the standards set by the Committee on Cancer. Congratulations and thank you to all involved in the care of our patients battling cancer.

The medical staff honoree for March was Dr. Neil Srivastava (Radiology) and the April honoree is Dr. William Hennessy (Urology).

May 18, 2016 is Belsky Research Day, and it is fitting that Dr. Joseph Belsky will be the May honoree.

In February, the Medical Staff Advisory Council welcomed new members Dr. Sohel Islam and Dr. David Kramer. The discussion topics included communication, the new P3 initiative to improve efficiency, and revisions to the Find a Doc tool on the new website.

Dr. Jimenez announced that a new remote access portal for physicians launched on April 6, 2016. To gain access, go to http://wchn.org and look for the Physicians/APP tab at top. Dr. Jimenez also reported that the Cerner Project is off to an excellent start, with much help from the Medical Staff.

The first General Medical Staff meeting of the year took place on April 12, 2016. This was Dr. Islam’s first meeting as president. A pre-meeting reception showcased new procedures being offered in the medical subspecialties. Each department will have an opportunity to showcase their work throughout the year.

Congratulations to Tammy Higgins, APRN, and the associate medical staff for hosting a valuable lecture on caring for victims of sexual assault. Thanks also to the Development Fund for their support. A similar lecture will be given on April 27, 2016 at 8 am at the Department of Medicine Grand Rounds. Attendance at either lecture fulfills the licensure requirement on that topic.

Dr. Chaubey and the Palliative Care team will host a day-long seminar on the principles of Palliative Care. Completion of this seminar and some follow up web-based modules will lead to EPEC certification. If you cannot attend the whole day, try to make the Department of Medicine Grand Rounds lecture on June 8, 2016 at 8 am where the keynote speaker will be Dr. Diane Meier, a leading expert in the field of Palliative Care.

Dr. Volpintesta is organizing a “burnout” support group for Medical Staff members. Drs. Herrick and Glucksman will be assisting.

Both Danbury Hospital and New Milford Hospital will be engaged in a disaster drill on Saturday, June 11, 2016 in the morning. Multiple departments will participate in the simulated mass casualty incident. Please contact Dr. Broderick or James Cooper with questions.