A series of practicing professionals have been identified to speak with the students about careers within the field of health services leadership and the importance of the role of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Student leaders have identified a desire for a Women’s Networking Luncheon to introduce our female students to a wider array of the professional leaders in the Brazos Valley and beyond. Cris Daskevich, FACHE, Senior Vice president, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, was the inaugural speaker for this series of three luncheon sessions during the academic year with hospital and physician practice leaders. Kathy Krusie, CEO, St. Joseph Regional Health Center, Bryan, “hosted” the first session, and each session will be hosted by one of the local women healthcare leaders.
Other speakers for this Fall’s joint series include David Pearson, FACHE, President of the Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals; William R. Rayburn, MD, Medical Director, Scott and White Clinic, College Station; and Blake Waterhouse, former CEO, Straub Clinic and Hospital, Honolulu. Steve Berkowitz, MD, founder of SMB Healthcare Consulting, a healthcare consulting firm offered a seminar on October 18 for the Local Program Council of the ACHE-Southeast Texas Chapter. This session allowed local healthcare executives and the SRPH MHA faculty an opportunity to explore many aspects of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act as it rolls out, especially data transparency, evidence-based practices and excelling at pay for performance.
Three Master of Health Administration (MHA) students from the Texas A&M Health Science Center competed in the 16th annual Everett V. Fox Student Case Competition sponsored by the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE). This year’s competition took place in Henderson, Nevada. The three-member team consisted of Perry Heard and Courtney Gordon, both second-year students, and Brandon Lewis, a first-year student. The team was among the twenty-two teams participating from around the county, representing both health administration and business administration programs. After making it to the final round, the team took third place, where each team member received a $2,000 scholarship. Other teams in the top five were Rush University (first place), University of South Carolina (second place), Cornell University (fourth place), and George Washington University (fifth place).
This year’s case was focused on establishing a patient-centered medical home in an effort to prevent diabetes related readmissions within a local hospital system in Birmingham, Alabama. The team developed a strategic business plan for the hospital system, offering several recommendations that supported their business model.
FACULTY UPDATES
Dr. Jane Nelson Bolin assisted the College of Medicine Family Medicine Residency in writing a CPRIT grant, receiving a $2.74 million dollar grant in August, 2011. This is a three-year evidence-based colon cancer prevention grant, which will be used to screen and educate low-income patients at risk for colon cancer while training family medicine residents in colorectal cancer screening procedures. Dr. Bolin is also Co-Principal Investigator on a grant partnering with Altarum Institute, evaluating the implementation of the Veteran’s Administration ARCH (Access Received Closer to Home) program. The Veteran’s Administration is experimenting with partnering with private healthcare systems in rural areas where veterans have scarce access to health care. If the pilot outcomes look promising, then the VA will push the program out nationally.
Dr. Barbara Quiram is the Principal Investigator of the PERLC (Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Center, which has received its second year of funding from the CDC. Dr. Quiram recently completed two years as Chair of the Texas Department of State Health Services Preparedness Coordinating Council (PCC). She is a founding member of the PCC having been appointed continuously since 2003. Also, the Texas Public Health Training Center (TPHTC) received its eleventh year of funding from HRSA.
Dr. Ciro Sumaya was interviewed by Hospitals and Health Networks Daily. Dr. Sumaya, chair of Ascension Health’s board quality committee, spoke about the drive toward becoming a high reliability organization.Dr. Thomas Miller was named the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Centennial Endowed Chair in Regional Health Services, Department of Family Medicine, Scott & White Healthcare and Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. Effective August 15, 2011, he is half-time at Texas A&M HSC SRPH and half-time at Scott & White in Temple, Texas.
Dr. Miller has been appointed as member of the Scientific Merit Review Board, Veteran’s Health Administration, Health Services Research and Development Service, Informatics and Research Methods Development. He is also a member of the Scott & White Research Grants Program Committee