Members of the graduating 2013 class of the Leadership College; the incoming 2014 Leadership College class; the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) Foundation’s Board of Trustees and the NCMS Board of Directors all gathered at the NCMS Annual Meeting last week to honor the Leadership College scholars and to hear from Ana Pujols McKee, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the Joint Commission.
In recognizing the Leadership College graduates, three scholars presented the findings from their final projects. Nancy S. Henley, MD, an internist from Durham, examined health and human rights. Eileen M. Raynor, MD, otolaryngologist from Durham, looked at factors affecting care in non-English speaking patients and families; and Thomas R. White, MD, a family physician from Cherryville, investigated the incidence of cardiovascular disease in his town’s firefighters. The final project is a requirement of the Leadership College, and these three doctors represented only a few of the diverse topics addressed by the graduating scholars.
The attendees also welcomed the incoming 2014 class of scholars. They are: Lloyd Bridges, MD, family medicine, Matthews; Sandya T. Cohen, MD, ophthalmology, Greensboro; Tracy L. Eskra, MD, MBA, internal medicine, Greenville; Tamieka Howell, MD, family medicine, Greensboro; Ellen Huffman-Zechman, MD, general practice, New Bern; Susan C. Ireton, PA-C, ATC-L, administrative medicine, Greensboro; Ashok Jain, MD, FAAP, MBA, pediatrics, Fayetteville; Lyndon K. Jordan, MD, radiology, Raleigh; Kunal Mitra, MD, MBA, pediatrics, Durham; Christopher R. Myers, MD, adult psychiatry, Wilmington; Michael A. Nichols, MD, PhD, radiation oncology, Wilmington; Maeve E. O’Connor, MD, FACAAI, FAAAAI, allergy and immunology, Charlotte; Susan C. Sanders, MD, dermatology, Concord; Katherine M. Varman, MD, dermatology, Chapel Hill; Simon V. Ward, III, MD, MPH, family medicine, Asheville; R.W. “Chip” Watkins, MD, MPH, family physician, Boone; Rufus D. Williams, Jr., MPAS, PA-C, hospitalist, Goldsboro.
The attendees also heard from Ana Pujols McKee, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the Joint Commission. The Joint Commission is an independent, non-profit group that accredits and certifies more than 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Joint Commission accreditation and certification is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards.
Dr. McKee spoke about the commission’s work in aiding the transformation to higher performing health care organizations as part of the Joint Commission’s Center for Transforming Health Care.
“This is a wonderful time in health care,” she said. “Value-based care has moved the physician into a leadership position.”
Learn more about the Joint Commission’s work here.
