Archive of news articles about Center for Aging and Health/Division of Geriatric Medicine faculty and staff
Quarter 1 of 2007
Andrew McWilliams, MPH, Gets Prestigious Edward Henderson Student Award from the American Geriatrics Society
March 28, 2007 - The Edward Henderson Student Award is given annually by the American Geriatrics Society to a medical student who has contributed substantially to the field of geriatric medicine. In February 2007, the society announced that University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill third-year medical student, Andrew McWilliams, MPH, is this year's awardee. McWilliams will receive a $500 stipend to attend the society's annual meeting in Seattle, Washington, in May.
Andy McWilliams, MPH, was the program director for Mobile Student Health Action Coalition(MSHAC) in 2004–2005. He led the effort to restructure the program’s organization and clearly defined its mission, objectives, and goals. In that year, MSHAC quadrupled student and patient involvement (100 students and 20 patients); involvement increased by another 25% in 2005–2006. They also obtained $25,000 in additional funding through various grants and partnerships. He created a web-based module called Beyond Clinic Walls, which will help disseminate the program to other schools. In February 2005, he received UNC-CH's June C. Allcott Fellowship for excellence and commitment in community service. He received the 2006 Delta Omega Service Award from the UNC-CH School of Public Health Public Health Leadership Program. The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) lobbies for and keeps the public aware of the clinical needs of the U.S.'s older population, including those who are chronically ill and disabled.
Chief of Geriatric Medicine and
Director of the Center for Aging and Health Jan Busby-Whitehead, MD, Appointed to Board of American Geriatrics Society's Foundation for Health in Aging.
March 28, 2007 - Jan Busby-Whitehead, MD has been appointed to the board of the Foundation for Health in Aging, a national public organization devoted solely to the special health care needs of older adults, created in 1999 by the American Geriatrics Society. She will begin her term in October at the FHA's 2007 board meeting. For more information, click here to see the AGS's press release.
The following news release about the Division of Geriatric Medicine's Associate Professor Laura Hanson, MD was written by the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCMS).
Dr. Laura Hanson Selected by CCME to Receive Prestigious Award
Cary, NC –Laura Hanson, MD, MPH, Clinical Coordinator for the Long Term Care Team at The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCME), has been named to receive the distinguished T. Reginald Harris, MD Award, in conjunction with the fall meeting of the North Carolina Medical Society the end of this month (October 2006). The award, created by CCME, honors the life and memory of T. Reginald Harris, MD, one of its founding members.
Dr. Hanson, the eighth physician to receive the award, is a board-certified geriatrician and general internist with added training in health policy and epidemiological research. She is an associate professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and co-director of the UNC Center for Health Ethics and Policy, while also serving as a clinical coordinator at CCME.
“Dr. Hanson demonstrates the same high level of commitment to improve quality of care and service to the medical community as Dr. Harris,” said Dr. Donald Wallace, CCME Board President, in making the announcement. “I fully agree with one of Dr. Hanson’s nominators who said her efforts have lead to measurable improvements in the quality of care provided to older adults and other vulnerable populations, in more effective long-term care oversights systems and policies, and in the compassionate practice of medicine,” said Wallace. “CCME could choose no better person to receive this award.”
In addition to her work with CCME and UNC-CH School of Medicine, Dr. Hanson maintains a clinical practice serving people at the end of their lives. She also contributes professional and public service at the state and national levels, volunteering her time to the NC Institute of Medicine, the NC End-of-Life Care Coalition, and the Penalty Review Committee of the NC Department of Human Resources. Dr. Hanson also serves on the Ethics Committee of the Society of General Internal Medicine.
Another nominator best summed up Dr. Hanson’s contributions by saying, “The doctor deeply believes in the rights of all individuals, despite how our society may devalue a group. Her choice to work with people who are frail, or dying, demonstrates a commitment that most people would shy away from. To the good fortune of their patients, colleagues, and the organizations she works with, she has immeasurable intellect and is not faint of heart. She embraces quality improvement approaches to channel her resolve that we do a better job at health care. Every person counts in her equation for a better system of care.”
In 1999, CCME created the Harris Memorial Award to honor the life and memory of one of its founding members, T. Reginald Harris, MD. The award consists of a plaque and a monetary prize of $2,500. Last year’s recipient was Dr. Larry Cutchin of Tarboro.
For more information, contact:
Charlotte A. Ranz
Senior Associate, Corporate Communications
100 Regency Forest Drive, Suite 200
Cary, North Carolina 27511-8598
919-380-9860 Ext. 2022
Fax: 919-380-7637
www.thecarolinascenter.orgJanuary 2007
Improving Care for Frail and Dying is
Physician's Mission - Laura Hanson, MD, Division of Geriatric Medicine at UNC-CH is featured as "2007 Health Care Hero" by Triangle Business Journal Click here to read the text written by Katherine Kopp that appeared in the Triangle Business Journal on March 30, 2007.
Dr. Laura Hanson was chosen by the editors of the special edition called "2007 Health Care Heroes" to be the
1st-place winner of the "Physician" category.
Last updated 5/15/2008. |
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