Wake Forest Baptist Receives the 2012 NCDR® ACTION Registry®–GWTGTM Bronze Performance Achievement Award
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dec. 7, 2012 – The Emergency Resuscitation Services team at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is the first in North Carolina to receive the 2012 Get with the Guidelines-Resuscitation Bronze Performance Achievement Award from the American Heart Association.
This is a result of Wake Forest Baptist’s efforts to keep care consistent with the latest scientific guidelines from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
Hospitals receiving the Get With The Guidelines Bronze Performance Award have demonstrated a commitment to treating (heart failure or stroke) patients with 85 percent or higher compliance to core standard levels of care as outlined by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association for 90 consecutive days.
“We couldn’t have achieved this honor without the efforts of physicians, nurses and other professionals who provide basic and advanced life support, as well as the personnel who ensure our resuscitation equipment is standardized and immediately available for use,” said Vickey Lewis, BSN, RN, CEN, Emergency Resuscitation Services. “We are also grateful for the efforts of the clinicians and support staff who care for these patients after a cardiopulmonary arrest.”
“This award recognizes our entire Medical Center’s dedication to patients,” said Drew MacGregor, M.D., Critical Care. “We are honored to achieve this award in recognition of resuscitation care resulting in positive outcomes.”
Wake Forest Baptist Receives American College of Cardiology Foundation’s NCDR® ACTION Registry®–GWTGTM Platinum Performance Achievement Award
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dec. 7, 2012 –Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has received the American College of Cardiology Foundation’s NCDR ACTION Registry–GWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award for 2012 – one of only 164 hospitals nationwide to do so.
The award recognizes Wake Forest Baptist’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients, and signifies that the medical center has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical guidelines and recommendations.
To receive the ACTION Registry–GWTG Platinum Performance Achievement Award, Wake Forest Baptist consistently followed the treatment guidelines in the ACTION Registry–GWTG Premier for eight consecutive quarters and met a performance standard of 90 percent for specific performance measures.
“The American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association commend Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center for its success in implementing standards of care and protocols. The full implementation of acute and secondary prevention guideline-recommended therapy is a critical step in saving the lives and improving outcomes of heart attack patients,” said Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., FACC, FAHA, ACTION Registry-GWTG Steering Committee Chair and Director of Ahmanson-UCLA Cardiomyopathy Center.
ACTION Registry–GWTG is a partnership between the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the American Heart Association with support from the American College of Emergency Physicians, Society of Chest Pain Centers and the Society of Hospital Medicine. ACTION Registry-GWTG empowers health care provider teams to consistently treat heart attack patients according to the most current, science-based guidelines and establishes a national standard for understanding and improving the quality, safety and outcomes of care provided for patients with coronary artery disease, specifically high-risk STEMI and NSTEMI patients.
Wake Forest Baptist Research Goes Global With Genetic Center in India
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dec. 7, 2012 – World-renowned scientists are taking what they’ve learned from their multicenter research collaboration studying the health impact of fatty acids on diverse populations to set up a genetics center in India.
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers Floyd H. “Ski” Chilton, Ph.D., and Avinash K. “Avi” Shetty, M.D., are studying genetic differences in populations related to how they convert certain dietary fats known as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs).
With new grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, they will take their research to the coastal city of Mangalore in the state of Karnataka in Southern India to study its diverse populations and their genetic capacity to make PUFAs that are critical for brain, eye and immune system development. The collaboration brings together Wake Forest Baptist, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the NITTE University/K.S. Hegde Medical Academy/AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences in Mangalore.
Chilton, a professor of physiology and pharmacology and director of the Center for Botanical Lipids and Inflammatory Disease Prevention at Wake Forest Baptist, and Shetty, a professor of pediatrics, have a long collaborative history with Rasika S. Mathias, ScD., and Kathleen Barnes, Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins.
This new effort is being supported with a two-year, $200,000 grant from The John E. Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences, part of the NIH. The center supports basic, clinical and applied research and training for U.S. and foreign investigators working in the developing world.
Wake Forest Baptist Faculty Member Helps Schools and Orphanages in Ghana
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dec. 7, 2012 –Medge Owen, M.D., professor of Obstetric Anesthesia at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and founder of Kybele Inc., organized a project that installed computers and distributed school supplies to three schools and one orphanage in Ghana over Thanksgiving.
In partnership with Forsyth Country Day School, Hopscotch, a High Point-based adoption agency and Cash Lovell Stables & Riding Academy, Kybele Inc. was able to install 15 donated desktop and 12 laptop computers to the Ghanaian schools. Other school supplies were collected from numerous local students and their families.
"It was incredible taking a group of local children to Africa," said Owen. "Our children learned first-hand how they can make an important difference to others in the world."
Kybele Inc. is a Winston Salem-based humanitarian organization dedicated to improving childbirth safety worldwide through educational partnerships.
The group departed for Accra, Ghana on Friday, Nov. 16. They returned on Saturday, Nov. 24.
Learn more about Kybele Inc.
Wake Forest Baptist Receives the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval for Hip and Knee Replacement Programs
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dec. 7, 2012 – Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has again earned the Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval® for its Hip Replacement and Knee Replacement Programs by demonstrating compliance with The Joint Commission's national standards for health care quality and safety in disease-specific care.
These certification awards recognize the Medical Center's dedication to continuous compliance with The Joint Commission's state-of-the-art standards.
The Joint Replacement Programs also have recently received awards from insurance carriers in recognition of their quality. Blue Cross Blue Shield has re-designated the Joint Replacement Program at Wake Forest Baptist as a Blue Distinction Center, and UnitedHealth has re-designated the Joint Replacement program a UnitedHealth Premium® Total Joint Specialty Center.
Wake Forest Baptist Faculty Member Receives SNO Award
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dec. 7, 2012 –Edward G. Shaw, M.D., M.A., professor of Radiation Oncology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and professor of Counseling at Wake Forest University, has received a new award from the Society for NeuroOncology (SNO), recognizing him for his significant contributions to the field.
SNO is an international organization for clinicians and researchers who focus on the diagnosis and treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumors. The board of directors introduced the Public Service Award to recognize a meritorious individual who has made significant contributions to the field of neuro-oncology and the mission of the society. The award honors those who have increased public awareness of brain cancer, advanced advocacy, promoted legislative action, or have otherwise supported the mission of SNO.
The board was unanimous in its selection of Shaw to be the inaugural recipient. In 2005, while serving as SNO president, Shaw initiated a strategic planning process which led to the establishment of the SNO Foundation, ensuring the long-term security and financial stability of the society. His work to strengthen SNO’s administrative infrastructure allowed SNO to evolve into a mature organization and a dynamic force in neuro-oncology.
Shaw received the award during the opening plenary session of SNO’s annual meeting on Nov. 16, 2012, in Washington, DC.
Wake Forest Baptist Faculty Member Receives the PAEA Outstanding Achievement Award
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dec. 7, 2012 – Janie McDaniel, MLS, (ASCP) SC, director of admissions at Wake Forest School of Medicine, part of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, is the 2012 recipient of the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) Outstanding Achievement Award.
This award honors an individual who has provided sustained, exceptional service or leadership to PAEA, or who has contributed to the advancement of the Physician Assistant profession in other ways. This could be through scholarly activity, teaching, or as an advocate for the profession in the public and/or private arenas.
She was nominated by the chair and vice chair of the Wake Forest School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program, Reamer L. Bushardt and L. Gail Curtis. In their nomination letter Bushardt and Curtis wrote, “Her commitment to the association leads to long days, evening effort, frequent travel and weekend catch-up efforts. She offers these many hours of service with a smile and gratitude for the opportunity to advance a profession she loves with all her heart.”
Wake Forest Baptist’s Comprehensive Cancer Center Receives AVON Grant
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dec. 7, 2012 – The Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has received the Avon Foundation Safety Net grant.
This is a one year $100,000 grant that was approved by the Avon Foundation Board of Trustees.
According to the foundation, “The Avon Safety Net Program supports institutions and organizations that have traditionally cared for uninsured, at-risk, low-income and minority patients to further our commitment of enabling medically underserved women and men to access post-screening diagnostics and care.”
This grant was presented at the Closing Ceremony of the Avon Walk Charlotte on Sunday, Oct. 28 in Frazier Park.
Wake Forest Baptist Employee Named One of the Most Influential People in the Triad
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Dec. 7, 2012 – Jeff Schmitt, Ph.D., Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has been named one of the Most Influential People in the Triad for 2013 by The Triad Business Journal.
This honor recognizes individuals who are leaders and play a crucial role in unifying and bringing advancement to the region.
Schmitt accepted this award at a ceremony held on Nov. 15, 2012 at High Point University.
Media Relations
Mac Ingraham: mingraha@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-3487