Capella Health

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Erik Swensson, MD, Makes List of 100 Nominees for “50 Most Influential Physician Executives in Healthcare”

Dr. Erik Swensson, Chief Medical Officer for Capella Healthcare, has been selected as one of 100 nominees from which the “50 Most Influential Physician Executives in Healthcare” will be chosen.

Modern Physician and sister publication Modern Healthcare co-sponsor this annual recognition program. Reader nominations were used to create the final ballot for the competition. Readers were asked to vote for one of 100 physician executives on that ballot earlier this year. Readers’ votes will count for 50% of the outcome with the other 50% coming from the expert opinions of the senior editors at Modern Healthcare and Modern Physician.

The final rankings will be published in the April 23^rd issue of both Modern Healthcare and Modern Physician magazines.

To read more about all of the nominees, click here>>

Dr. Swensson was named Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Capella Healthcare in January of 2011.  The position was structured so that Dr. Swensson, a surgeon, is also able to continue practicing medicine part-time while serving simultaneously in the corporate leadership role.  He is a vascular and general surgeon affiliated with Willamette Valley Medical Center (WVMC) in McMinnville, OR, which has been a part of Capella Healthcare since February 2008.

 

Local Doctor Named to ‘Best Doctors In America’ List

Dr. Braden Richmond, M.D., who practices at Jacksonville Medical Center and serves on the Board of Trustees, has been named one of the Best Doctors in America® for 2011-12. The prestigious recognition brings great honor to Dr. Richmond, Jacksonville Medical Center and the Jacksonville, Alabama community.

The highly regarded Best Doctors in America® List, assembled by Best Doctors, Inc., results from exhaustive polling of over 45,000 physicians in the United States. In a confidential review, current physician listees answer the question, “If you or a loved one needed a doctor in your specialty, to whom would you refer?” Best Doctors, Inc. evaluates the review results, and verifies all additional information to meet detailed inclusion criteria.

Best Doctors has earned a sterling reputation for reliable, impartial results by remaining totally independent. Doctors cannot pay to be included in the Best Doctors database, nor are they paid to provide their input. The List is a product of validated peer review, in which doctors who excel in their specialties are selected by their peers in the profession.

“I was honored when I found out about the award,” says Richmond, “I actually found out through a family member that saw the listing in the Birmingham News. Once I found out that for this award you must be nominated by other physicians, then anonymously reviewed for your quality of care by LOTS of physicians who are currently top doctors, and finally recognized if you meet the standard of those already recognized as the “Best Doctors”. So this award means a lot to me.”

 

Muskogee’s Timothy Holder, MD, recognized for contributions to advancing continuing medical education programs

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®) recently announced that the 2011 Rutledge W. Howard, MD, Award for Individual Service to the Intrastate Accreditation System has been awarded to Timothy Holder, MD.  Dr. Holder is a family practice physician/ obstetrician who is on the medical staff at Muskogee Regional Medical Center and is employed by Maternal-Family Practice Associates.

The award recognizes Dr. Holder for his contributions and commitment to advancing community-based continuing medical education (CME) programs and the intrastate accreditation system. Dr. Holder was nominated for the award by the Oklahoma State Medical Association (OSMA) where he has served as chair of the OMSA Accreditation Review Committee since 2005, and has been a member of the Committee since 1997. He has served on the ACCME Board of Directors since 2009; currently serving as Vice-Chair of the Board’s Quality Improvement Committee. He has been a member of the ACCME Committee for Review and Recognition since 2006, currently serving as co-chair, and has also volunteered as an ACCME recognition surveyor and an OSMA accreditation surveyor.

Among his many achievements, Dr. Holder initiated a statewide, collaborative endeavor to address important Oklahoma health issues and improve patient care through the application of the ACCME 2006 Accreditation Criteria. The collaborative effort included OSMA, its intrastate accredited providers, and other stakeholders such as the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision, the Oklahoma Hospital Association, and the Oklahoma Commissioner of Health.

Dr. Holder will receive his award during a presentation lunch at the ACCME State/Territory Medical Society Conference, scheduled for December 6-7, 2011, in Chicago.  To learn more about this award, visit this section of the ACCME website.

Southwestern Physician appointed to National Survey Team for Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society

Gregory K. Morton, III, M.D., is the only physician in Oklahoma to be appointed to the exclusive Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) national survey team.   The UHMS is an international, non-profit organization serving more than 2,400 members from 50 countries. The society is the primary source of scientific information for diving and hyperbaric medicine physiology worldwide and the only national organization performing accreditation surveys for hyperbaric therapy centers.

Dr. Morton is currently the Hyperbaric Safety Director at Southwestern Medical Center, having served in this role at SWMC’s Center for Wound Healing and Hyperbarics since 2007.  He recently completed UHMS surveyor training in Texas last month and has been chosen to serve on the UHMS survey team as the only physician in Oklahoma.  Dr. Morton will play an integral role in the hyperbaric chamber accreditation process across the United States. Survey teams consist of three members, including one hyperbaric trained doctor, one hyperbaric trained nurse and one certified hyperbaric technician.

When a hyperbaric oxygen center is invited to participate in the accreditation survey process, the UHMS sends the three-person team of experts to the facility to examine staffing and training, equipment installation, operation and maintenance, facility and patient safety, and standards of care.

“SWMC commends Dr. Morton on his prestigious accomplishment.  His appointment to the UHMS survey team is another example of exceptional service and quality care you and your family can expect from our team of experts at the Center for Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine,” stated Steve Hyde, FACHE, Chief Executive Officer of Southwestern Medical Center.

Physicians Elected to School Board in McMinnville Oregon

Two physicians on the medical staff of Willamette Valley Medical Center were recently elected to the school board.  Scott J. Gibson, MD, gastroenterologist, and Scott Schieber, MD, family practitioner, both newcomers to politics, won seats on the McMinnville School Board by significant margins.

Victoria Damba, DO, Installed as President of MAOPS

Victoria Damba, DO, of Farmington was recently installed as President of the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (MAOPS). A hospitalist at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center (MARMC), Dr. Damba represents the hospital’s medical staff on Capella Healthcare’s National Physician Leadership Group.

Dr. Damba will lead the state organization for osteopathic physicians, also an affiliate of the American Osteopathic Association, during the next year. She was installed as President by her husband, Dwayne Damba, DO, who is also on MARMC’s medical staff.

As part of her duties, Dr. Damba will travel to the organization’s sixteen affiliate districts. The purposes of the visits include (1) informing members throughout the state of the activities of their state professional organization, and (2) to hear and address the concerns of osteopathic physicians in Missouri. She will also lead the Missouri Delegates to the American Osteopathic Association’s House of Delegates in Chicago this summer. During the AOA’s House of Delegates, the AOA’s policy making body for the national association, Dr. Damba will be responsible for ensuring that the voice of Missouri’s almost 3,000 osteopathic physicians is heard.

Dr. Damba has been active in MAOPS all of her career, serving on virtually every committee, Dr. Damba graduated in 1997 from A.T. Still University – Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Dr. Damba talks about her approach to medicine in this interview with the CEO of MARMC:

 

Four Decades Of Compassion

Dr. Lionel Naylor was honored for “four decades of compassion” by Parkway Medical Center when CEO Tim McGill presented him with the first annual “Baugh Wiley Smith Physician Achievement Award” during the hospital’s Doctors’ Day festivities on March 30.

Dr. Naylor knew he wanted to become a physician when – as a high school senior – he watched his father suffer and die from tongue cancer. “I had always been interested in medicine, but after seeing what he went through, I knew wanted to help people.”

A Louisiana native and son of a nurse, Dr. Naylor came to Decatur in 1968, selecting the area because some of his medical school colleagues were already in practice there. He specializes in general and vascular surgery.

One of his partners Dr. Bill Manifold said it’s difficult to find a family in the area in which Dr. Naylor hasn’t operated on a mother, father, grandparent or uncle. “And, he’s done it with true high quality,” Dr. Manifold said. “I’ve never heard him whine, even when he was up all weekend. There is not a more deserving person. He’s set the standard for general surgical care in this area, and that’s going to be here forever.”

The following medical staff members affiliated with Capella hospitals throughout the country have recently been recognized.

 

Dr. Angela Bowen, a member of the Board of Trustees for Capital Medical Center (Olympia, WA), has received the leadership in human protection award from the World Health Organization.  Since she founded the Western Institutional Review Board in 1968, it has grown to become one of the largest IRBs in the world, with research sites in all 50 states and 30 companies. WIRB reviews hospital, individual and university medical and scientific research projects. WIRB moved into an $8 million, four-story medical office building in March of 2009. Up until 1991, Dr. Bowen also had her own endocrinology practice.

The Willamette Valley Medical Center Cancer Center has been renamed the H. R. Hoover, MD Cancer Center in honor of Dr. H.R. “Joe” Hoover, who passed away in November at the age of 61. A general surgeon, Dr. Hoover was a devoted medical staff member at WVMC for 25 years. He served as Chair of the Cancer Committee and Interim Chief of Surgery and Anesthesia, volunteering his services on several other hospital committees and medical staff projects and never turned down an opportunity to improve patient care.

“Dr. Hoover was a humble, private man who did not seek any recognition for his contributions,” said CEO Rosemari Davis. “He loved his work and the numerous individuals who shared his passion for medical care. He believed in service and offering a helping hand to those in need, including strongly supporting education. He was a integral part of our community and medical family and he will be remembered by colleagues, staff, and patients alike.”

Dr. Owen L. Kelly, an orthopedic surgeon with Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center (Russellville, AR) has been named to the “Top 40 under 40.”  He serves as a volunteer team physician for Arkansas Tech University Women’s Athletics and a Cyclone Turf Project donor for Russellville High School.

Dr. David Nelson, an obstetrician-gynecologist with Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center (Russellville, AR) has been named to the “Top 40 under 40.” He serves on the steering committee of The Call (children of Arkansas Loved for a Lifetime) of Pope County. The CALL’s mission is to educate, equip and encourage the Christian community to provide a future and a hope for the children in foster care.