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Hospitalists On The Move — September 2011

Dr. Wickramasinghe

Eardly K. Wickramasinghe, MD, has been named the 2011 recipient of the Pennsylvania Medical Society’s Physician Award for Community Voluntary Service. Dr. Wickramasinghe, a general practitioner and hospitalist with Erie Physicians Network who works at Saint Vincent Health Center, was chosen for the award after the statewide organization’s board of trustees voted unanimously to award him the honor. Dr. Wickramasinghe has a long history of volunteerism in the Erie community. He organized the Start Your Day Right breakfast food collection drive. He also initiated the Sheltering the Community program, which created and administered a team of area physicians to conduct bimonthly medical clinics at homeless shelters.

Robert M. Wachter, MD, MHM, professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), associate chairman of UCSF’s Department of Medicine, chief of the medical service at UCSF Medical Center, and chief of UCSF’s division of hospital medicine, has been named chair-elect of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) board of directors. He also serves on ABIM’s executive committee.

Hospitalist Adeeb Jaber, MD, recently was chosen as Outstanding Physician of the Year at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Maryland—an honor bestowed by the hospital’s nurses. Dr. Jaber was the top vote-getter out of 1,000 cast by the center’s nurses, who were asked to nominate a doctor considered a role model and who “collaborates and communicates for care.” He has been on staff at the hospital since July 2008.

Tosha B. Wetterneck, MD, MS, FACP, has been named president-elect of the Wisconsin Medical Society. Dr. Wetterneck is associate professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and a general internist and hospitalist at UW Hospital and Clinics.

Julie Coffman Barnes, MD, has been named chief medical officer at Redmond Regional Medical Center in Georgia. Dr. Barnes will work alongside hospital personnel in patient safety and quality initiatives as well as evaluation of new clinical programs and technologies.

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT – HM Mergers, Acquisitions, and Expansions

Cogent HMG has started a new hospitalist program at Sierra Vista Regional Health Center in Arizona. The program is using physicians who work on a temporary basis until a full-time staff is hired and receive Arizona licenses to do medical work in the state.

Schumacher Group has announced a major headquarters expansion over the next five years. The group, which generated $439 million in revenues in 2010, a 13% increase over 2009, provides emergency and HM staffing and management services. The expansion will create 600 new direct jobs in the Lafayette area of Louisiana. Schumacher Group currently employs more than 300 people in Lafayette with a total employment of 1,200.

St. Louis-based Inpatient Management Inc. (IMI) has been chosen to provide hospitalist services at McDonough District Hospital’s primary location in Macomb, Ill. The contract is for IMI 360, a comprehensive HM program that includes complete program management, IMI-employed staff, Dyad Leadership and comprehensive metrics, reporting, and accountability.

Kenwood Hospitalists has merged with Sound Physicians. Kenwood primarily works with Jewish Hospital Kenwood in Cincinnati, but the combined organizations will work with Mercy Health Partners’ facilities, including hospitals and post-acute facilities in the greater Cincinnati area.

In Memoriam

Ryan L. Moore, MD, 36, a hospitalist at St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Topeka, Kan., died last month while kayaking along the Kansas River. Dr. Moore had recently accepted an appointment to become chief of staff at the hospital.

Dr. Moore was board-certified in internal medicine and pediatrics, and previously worked with Emergency Medical Services at Cushing Memorial Hospital in Leavenworth, Kan., and Emergency Medicine at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

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