Tracy Jacobs, MD Joins Trinity
Tracy C. Jacobs, MD has joined the medical staff at Trinity Medical Center. Jacobs specializes in Family Medicine with a special interest in lipids and diabetes. She has joined Trinity Medical Clinics in Chelsea.
Jacobs received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Georgia State University in Atlanta and her medical degree from the University of South Alabama in Mobile. She completed an emergency medicine internship at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC, and a family medicine residency at the University of South Alabama in Mobile where she was Chief Resident.
Jacobs is a member of the American Academy of Family Medicine, Alabama Academy Board of Directors, National Lipid Association, American Medical Association and American Medical Association Political Action Committee.
Urology Centers Sponsors Talladega Half Marathon
On Saturday, September 14, over 1,300 runners from 30 different states came together to raise awareness about prostate cancer at the Talladega Superspeedway. It was a one of a kind Half Marathon sponsored by Urology Centers of Alabama and the Trak Shak that started and finished on the Track. Runners ran on the apron of the track, above the track and looked down on the turns and embankment and ran through the grandstands and outside on the grounds of the Track. Very few people have ever had the opportunity before to see such breathtaking views of the entire grounds.
After crossing the finish line runners headed over to the Pit Garage on Pit Road for a post- race party where they enjoyed Jim ‘N Nicks Bar-B-Q.
Funds raised from this event goes to the Urology Health Foundation to continue their efforts screening men free across the State of Alabama for prostate cancer.
For more information about the Health Foundation please visit www.urologyhealthfoundation.org.
Brookwood Names New Chief Physician Executive
Brookwood Medical Center has named Mark S. Williams, MD, MBA, JD, CPE, as its Chief Physician Executive, effective Oct. 24.
Williams most recently served as the Chief Medical Officer and interim chair of the leadership team at North Mississippi Health Services — the largest rural health system in the US, comprised of seven hospitals and numerous outpatient facilities and clinics. During his six-year tenure, the organization was the recipient of numerous quality and safety awards, including the 2012 National Malcolm Baldrige Award for organizational excellence.
He was a member of the governor’s Medicaid redesign committee, the Mississippi BCBS Hospital Quality Committee, the Mississippi Physician Workforce Taskforce and the Mississippi Hospital Association’s Physician Leadership Group. Williams is the incoming president of the Southern Medical Association, a 14-state professional association headquartered in Birmingham, dedicated to physician education and leadership development.
A board-certified anesthesiologist, Williams received his medical degree from University of South Alabama College of Medicine. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from Samford University in 1995 and graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2001. He previously served as Chief of Staff at Carraway Methodist Medical Center (2005-2006), Senior VP and Chief Medical Officer at St. Vincent’s Health System (2005 – 2008), Chair of the Physician Informatics Council at Ascension Health (2006 – 2008) and Board Chairman of the Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation (2006 – 2011).
Agarwal named councilor of American Society of Nephrology
The American Society of Nephrology has elected Anupam Agarwal, MD, professor and director of the Division of Nephrology at UAB, as a councilor of the ASN Council, the organization’s leadership arm.
Agarwal will serve a seven-year term beginning this November.
Agarwal graduated with honors from Kasturba Medical College in India. He completed his residency at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in India, where he also completed a nephrology fellowship.
After additional training at the University of Minnesota Hospital, he joined the faculty of the Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Transplantation at the University of Florida.
At UAB, he was named the Thomas E. Andreoli Professor of Nephrology in 2006. He became the division director in 2008 and was named vice chair for research for the UAB Department of Medicine in 2009. He was appointed to the Marie S. Ingalls Endowed Chair in Nephrology Leadership in 2011 and served as interim chairman for the UAB Department of Medicine from 2011-2012.
St. Vincent’s Expanding 119 Campus
St. Vincent’s Health System has announced a $15.6 million expansion of its St. Vincent’s One Nineteen Campus. The 40,000 square foot expansion will include an ambulatory surgery center, an urgent care center and additional professional office space. The project slated for fall of 2015.
Currently, St. Vincent’s One Nineteen has 35 physicians in 14 medical specialties, a comprehensive outpatient diagnostic imaging center, rehabilitation services, GI Lab, and wellness services and classes. These services are in addition to the spa and fitness center.
Teklinks Partners with Greenway
TekLinks, a Birmingham-based company that provides IT support and managed cloud services,
has partnered with Greenway Health to offer a hosted EMR/EHR software service to physician practices throughout the Southeast.
After listening to the growing demand from their mutual clients for higher availability and security in the cloud, TekLinks Health Services Group and Greenway architected a solution that will combine their companies’ best assets and services to continue to provide premium healthcare IT solutions to physician practices. Rather than running Greenway’s software on physical servers, which depreciate over time, clients can now move their patient data to TekLinks’ robust cloud environment.
“TekLinks is an industry leader in the cloud space and have put a tremendous amount of time into ensuring our environment is scalable, available, and secure, meeting the compliance requirements the healthcare industry needs,” says David Powell, TekLinks VP of Managed & Cloud Services.
FARE Walk for Food Allergies
On Saturday, November 1, the the not-for-profit Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE) will host will host a walk for food allergy at Railroad Park.
The event will include music and games for kids with a face painter, a balloon artist, and a Halloween costume contest.
To register, form a team, or volunteer, visit www.foodallergywalk.org/Birmingham2014.
Brookwood Announces Board of Governors
Brookwood Medical Center announces its new board of governors, including Chairman Chris Bell. As active community members, the members of this team should positively enrich the future of health care in Birmingham.
The Board of Governors is comprised of medical professionals and executive leaders in the community, offering unique insight to support progress and position the organization for continued success. This group works collaboratively to develop a strategic roadmap for Brookwood.
The full slate of Brookwood Medical Center Board members includes:
• Chris Bell, chair – Southern Company
• Mack Barnes, MD – Alabama Gynecological Oncology
• Ann Florie – Leadership Birmingham
• Garry Gause – Brookwood Medical Center
• Lee Hammontree, MD – Urology Associates of AL
• Bobby Humphrey – Bryant Bank
• Raleigh Kent, MD – Norwood Clinic
• Joe Lucas, MD – Grayson & Associates
• Thomas Powell, MD – Powell Orthopedic & Sports Medicine
• Abraham Schuster, MD – Anesthesia Services of Birmingham
• Allen Yeilding, MD – Hematology/Oncology Associates of AL
Biddle Named Interim CEO at St. Vincent’s
Former St. Vincent’s executive vice president and chief operating officer Neeysa Biddle has been named interim CEO to replace John O’Neil who resigned the last week of September.
Biddle retired from St. Vincent’s in 2011 to help launch the Ascension Leadership Academy, where she now serves as program director. She has more than 25 years of healthcare administrative and executive experience. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Health Administration from UAB. Prior to joining St. Vincent’s, she was chief operating officer of Brookwood Medical Center.
St. Vincent’s will conduct a national search for a new CEO.
BHS Names Chris Davis, MD Chief Information Officer
Baptist Health System (BHS) has appointed Chris Davis, MD to the position of chief information officer / chief medical informatics officer. Davis has served as the System’s chief medical informatics officer since 2012 and had been serving as interim chief information officer since June.
Under his leadership, BHS has successfully implemented the Epic 2014 upgrade and has made significant strides toward electronic medical record integration strategies. He has served in a leadership role in the implementation of electronic medical records with the Epic Electronic Health Records (EHR) system, which works to maintain patient safety and encourage compliance with organizational best practices.
Prior to joining BHS, Dr. Davis worked at Mercy Health System in St. Louis as a physician informaticist and Inpatient CMIO. During his six year tenure at Mercy in the field of medical informatics, he helped to transform the delivery of health care by assisting in the implementation of the Epic EHR in 18 hospitals across four states.
He received his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where he also completed his residency in Emergency Medicine. Following his residency, he practiced as an emergency physician in the Emergency Trauma Center at St. John’s Health System, Springfield, Mo. He holds a master’s degree in Medical Informatics from Northwestern University. Davis is board certified in Emergency Medicine and Clinical Informatics and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
UAB Health System Among Most Wired in the Nation
The UAB Health System has been named to the 2014 “Health Care’s Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems” list by Hospitals and Health Networks, the journal of the American Hospital Association.
The UAB Health System is one of 375 institutions which met the most wired criteria. More than 1,900 hospitals, or roughly 33 percent of all U.S. hospitals, were surveyed by HHN.
Hospitals are surveyed on use of Internet technologies in four core areas: infrastructure, business and administrative management, clinical quality and safety, and clinical integration. Hospitals must meet standards in all four areas to achieve the most wired designation.
At UABHS, physicians are able to manage a number of clinical functions online, including checking laboratory and imaging results, reviewing clinical notes from other health care providers, and entering patient care notes and medication orders.