Cheers for Peers August 2019

Our Advanced GI/Minimally Invasive Surgery just received notification of full three-year accreditation from the Fellowship Council. The fellowship’s co-program directors are Curtis Bower, M.D., and Michael Nussbaum, M.D., Chair of the Department of Surgery.

Evelyn Garcia, M.D., Diagnostic Radiology, was elected President of the Virginia chapter of the American College of Radiology, and Sam Nakat, M.D., Co-Chair of Radiology, was elected as an Alternate Councilor.

Christina Gardner, P.A., Director of the ACP Fellowship in Urgent Care, and Sara Nicely, P.A., Surgical Critical Care, presented a poster at the annual Virginia Academy of Physician Assistants conference in Virginia Beach. The poster was titled “When the Stars Align: Clinical Educational Innovation to Support Deployed Active Military PA Students.”

David Hartman, M.D., Psychiatry, will be presented the 2019 NCAD Champion Award on Saturday, Aug. 17, at the National Conference on Addiction Disorders.

Roger Hofford, M.D., Medical Director for Community Care – Transition Care, was part of a panel on Complexity of Health Policy at the American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL) annual meeting in May.

Steve Morgan, M.D., Chief Medical Information Officer, was part of a panel on Leveraging Analytics to Optimize the EHR at the HFMA annual conference in June. Panelists discussed success factors and challenges that helped realize ROI while creating a long-term strategy.

Paul Skolnik, M.D., Chair of the Department of Medicine, is helping to lead Carilion’s involvement in the Integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia (iTHRIV) – a cross-state translational research institute supported by a five-year, $23 million NIH Clincal Translational Science Award (CTSA). Partnering institutions include Carilion, Virginia Tech, UVA, and Inova Health System. This is the first cross-state effort in Virginia to integrate broad clinical and translational research resources and processes for a transformative benefit, and Carilion is one of only 58 medical centers nationwide to receive a CTSA grant. I encourage you to take advantage of iTHRIV resources.

Our Interventional Cardiology program has been invited to join the Emory University Practical Interventional Course-Southeastern Consortium (EPIC-SEC), an academic consortium sponsored through Emory University specific to Interventional Cardiology. Approximately 15 academic programs in the southeast and southwest U.S. are part of the consortium. Members attend an annual scientific meeting and collaborate on research ideas. Rahul Sharma, M.D., was chosen to speak on behalf of our Interventional Cardiology team.

Robert Trestman, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of Department of Psychiatry, spoke to the Rockbridge Prevention Forum in Lexington on July 31. The focus was on educating and equipping parents, grandparents, teachers, community members and stakeholders on the current youth substance use trends and how to approach conversations, recognize behaviors and symptoms and prevent use. Dr. Trestman also took part in the Mill Mountain Theatre talk back after the musical play “Next to Normal” on June 26. The musical shares a family’s intricate battle with mental health.

Patrice M. Weiss, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, was recently named a “CMO to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review for the fourth year in a row.

Many of our providers were named to Our Health magazine’s annual Best Bedside Manner Awards for 2018. You can view the online edition of the magazine here – the list begins on page 39. Congratulations to each of you!

Our providers who have been featured in the news lately are:

• John Burton, M.D., Chair of Emergency Medicine, was quoted in a Roanoke Times article about the volume of pain pills in the Roanoke Valley.
• Jonathan Carmouche, M.D., Chief of Orthopaedic Spine, was featured in a Becker’s Spine Review Q&A on trends in spine technology and how to prepare for value-based care.
• Randy Clements, D.P.M., Chief of Podiatry, and TK Miller, M.D., Chief of Sports Medicine, were featured in a number of media reports about bringing the IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon to Roanoke. Here’s the Roanoke Times article about this exciting event.
• Kimberly Dunsmore, M.D., Chair of Pediatrics, was quoted in a WFXR story about Salem Red Sox donations for Carilion Children’s and in a Roanoke Times article about the new clinic at Fallon Park Elementary School.
• Ryan Fulton, D.O., Pediatrics, was interviewed by WSLS for a story about back-to-school preparation.
• Tom Kerkering, M.D., Chief of Infectious Disease, was quoted in a WSLS story about necrotizing fasciitis.
• Christopher Pierce, M.D., Chief for Pediatric Medicine Postal, was interviewed by WDBJ and WSLS about back-to-school preparation.
• Dr. Trestman was interviewed by WDBJ 7 on his perspective on the pain pill database that was released and put online by the Washington Post and by WFXR about whether video games are linked to gun violence.
• Julie Zielinski, M.D., Pediatrics, was interviewed for a WSLS story called “How to be a Good Sports Parent.”