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Program News: University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

By AUPHA Exchange posted 05-06-2013 10:55

  

The department of health policy and management at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health is pleased to announce the following chair, faculty and student news.

Sandra Greene appointed interim chair of health policy and management

Professor of the Practice Sandra Greene, DrPH, has been appointed interim chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina's Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Greene brings extensive leadership and management experience to the interim chair position. She served as an executive at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina for 24 years. There she rose to the rank of vice president for strategic information before leaving in 2001 to join the Health Policy and Management faculty. 

As a senior research fellow and co-director of the Program on Healthcare Finance at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, Greene has carried out important work and has collaborated with researchers across campus and the state. She is widely known and well-respected across North Carolina, where she plays an active policy role.

"Dr. Greene is an experienced and skillful leader who will do an excellent job guiding this very strong department over the interim period," said Dean and Alumni Distinguished Professor Barbara K. Rimer, DrPH. "She is committed to all aspects of the department's mission. With her leadership, Health Policy and Management will continue to be the dynamic, engaging and diverse community of researchers, teachers, practitioners and alumni that have made it among the most highly-ranked departments of its kind."

The appointment is effective immediately. In 2014, the Gillings School of Global Public Health will convene a new search committee to begin a focused search process for a permanent chair.

"I have tremendous admiration for the faculty and staff in this department," Greene said. "Sometimes I sit back in awe of the brain power, creativity, productivity and passion that they possess. I'm excited to serve as interim chair and am looking forward to helping us collectively take the next steps to assess where we are and where we want to go, and to decide what kind of chair we want to attract."

Holmes selected as Journal of Rural Health board chair

Mark Holmes, PhD, assistant professor of health policy and management at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, has been elected chair of the editorial board of The Journal of Rural Health. He began his one-year term on Jan. 1.

Holmes became a member of the editorial board in 2010. As chair, he will help determine all aspects of the journal, from content and organization to layout and design.

"The Journal of Rural Health is the leading source of scientific inquiry for rural health research," Holmes said. "I am grateful that there is an outlet dedicated to science designed to improve the health of our 62 million rural residents."

The peer-reviewed, international journal, published quarterly by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA), is dedicated to advancing professional practice, research, theory development and public policy related to rural health. Established in 1985, it serves as a medium for communication among health scientists and professionals in practice, educational, research and policy settings.

The NHRA, a nonprofit organization with more than 21,000 members, aims to provide leadership on rural health issues.

HPM team places first in UAB’s national case competition

It's a sweep!

For the third time this academic year, a student team from Gillings School of Global Public Health's health policy and management department has brought home first prize in a national health care case competition. Last October, two other student teams took first place at the Humana and National Association of Health Services Executives events.

Gillings School health policy and management master's candidates Kelley Lamb, Cayla Wigfall and Eric Ransom won first prize at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's annual health care case competition on Feb. 28.

University of Alabama at Birmingham Health System sponsored the competition, which awarded cash prizes to the top three teams selected by a panel of 12 nationally recognized health-administration professional judges. A total of 32 teams participated.

First held in 2007, the case competition provides students with the opportunity to present recommendations about a health management issue to a national panel of judges. It is designed to be a capstone experience that tests students' analytic, teamwork, communication and presentation skills and offers the opportunity to apply skills to a real-life case. This year's case study was based on working with Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) to open 15 urgent care centers in Tennessee.

"This experience was an opportunity to apply the knowledge I have acquired over the last two years at UNC," Wigfall said. "Participating provided me with additional self-confidence to succeed in my career after I graduate."

Teams had three weeks to prepare a comprehensive analysis and develop a set of practical recommendations in the areas of leadership, staffing issues, operational efficiency, design challenges, finance and marketing.

"When dividing the work, we discussed our strengths and interests and agreed that we wanted to focus on the patient experience. Our team spent a lot of time researching and working together to create a finished product," Lamb said.

"I think we won because we were the most prepared team, Ransom added. "Our faculty and classmates pushed us to get better with each presentation."

"The UAB competition is a wonderful professional development opportunity to apply what our students are learning in the classroom at UNC and apply their knowledge to a real-life health care case study," said Peggy Leatt, PhD, professor and chair in the Department of Health Policy and Management and associate dean for academic affairs at the School. "We are very proud of our team," she said.
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