Wake Forest Baptist October Awards and Recognitions

October 24, 2012

Wake Forest Baptist Receives AHA’s Stroke Gold Plus Quality Award

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Oct. 24, 2012 –Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has received the 2012 Get with the Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award & Target: Stroke Honor Roll from the American Heart Association (AHA).

This award recognizes Wake Forest Baptist’s commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care by ensuring that stroke patients receive treatment according to nationally accepted guidelines.

Wake Forest Baptist is one of seven hospitals in North Carolina to receive this award.

“The Medical Center faculty and staff strive to bring the latest advances to stroke care in our area and we are honored to be recognized with the Gold Plus performance achievement award for exceptional care,” said Allison Brashear, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Neurology.

Read more about Wake Forest Baptist’s Primary Stroke Center at http://www.wakehealth.edu/Neurosciences/Primary-Stroke-Center/.

Wake Forest Baptist MS Clinic Earns Designation from National MS Society

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Oct. 24, 2012 – The multiple sclerosis (MS) clinic at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has been designated as a Center for Comprehensive Care by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Wake Forest Baptist’s MS clinic is one of only three in the state to receive this designation.

This designation is awarded to centers that focus on the experience of the patient and that provide access to medical, psycho-social and rehabilitation services. The center must demonstrate the ability to provide comprehensive care to patients who often have complex issues related to living with MS. These centers must be recommended for this designation by a National Comprehensive Care Review Committee.

“We believe in the importance of providing an integrated approach to the management of multiple sclerosis,” said Emily Poole Pharr, M.D., assistant professor of neurology at Wake Forest Baptist. “We have a great team of people dedicated to the care of our patients and we are very excited to receive this recognition as a Center for Comprehensive Care from the National MS Society.”

For more information, visit http://www.nationalmssociety.org/living-with-multiple-sclerosis/getting-the-care-you-need/affiliated-centers-for-comprehensive-care/index.aspx.

Wake Forest Baptist Receives Grant for TCCS Study

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Oct. 24, 2012 –Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’sDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation has received more than $748,000 from a Department of Defense consortium grant for a number of studies including the Trauma Collaborative Care Study.

Wake Forest Baptist is one of only six intervention sites across the nation. The study will include a total of 900 patients.

As an intervention site, Wake Forest Baptist will implement a Trauma Survivor’s Network (TSN) program that combines state-of-the-art patient services with ongoing professional support to achieve better outcomes for patients. This program will include health information for patients and families, support groups, peer visiting and classes focused on recovery.

For more information on this study, visit https://metrc.org/component/content/article/54-infopages/crsd/293-ttcistudydescription.

Wake Forest Baptist’s Physician Assistant Program Awarded Re-Accreditation

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Oct. 24, 2012 – Wake Forest School of Medicine’s Physician Assistant (PA) program, part of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has been granted re-accreditation by The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA).

This continued accreditation is granted when a currently accredited program is in compliance with ARC-PA standards, which strive to promote and foster excellence in PA programs across the nation.

For more information on Wake Forest Baptist’s PA program visit http://www.wakehealth.edu/Physician-Assistant-Program/.

Wake Forest Baptist and Kidney Transplant Program Receive HRSA Awards

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Oct. 24, 2012 – The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recognized Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center as a silver medal hospital for organ donation and has awarded a bronze medal to the Medical Center’s kidney transplant program.

The silver medal for organ donation shows that the Medical Center has “achieved and sustained national goals for donation, including a donation rate of 75 percent or more of eligible donors at their facilities.”

The transplant program award recognizes performance based on “post-transplant survival rates, transplant rates and mortality rates after patients are placed on waiting lists.”

For more details visit http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/10/20121004b.html.

Wake Forest Baptist Joins Donate Life North Carolina Organization

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Oct. 24, 2012 –Transplant Services at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has been approved for membership to the Donate Life North Carolina organization.

As a member, Wake Forest Baptist will assist Donate Life NC in the promotion of organ, eye and tissue donations to other organizations including Carolina Donor Services, LifeShare Of The Carolinas and the NC Eye Bank.

Betty C. Crandall, MS, RN, will be the representative for Wake Forest Baptist.

Read more about the membership at http://www.donatelifenc.org/news/wake-forest-baptist-transplant-services-joins-donate-life-nc.

Wake Forest Baptist Faculty Members Elected Founding Fellows of International Society

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Oct. 24, 2012 – Anthony Atala, M.D., and David Williams, Ph.D., of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center are among 22 regenerative medicine leaders from around the world elected as Founding Fellows of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS). In addition, Williams is the new president of the organization.

According to the society, Founding Fellows “represent those who make significant contributions to the development and promotion of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.” The honor recognizes members for their role in shaping the tissue engineering and regenerative medicine field and the society.

The Founding Fellows were recognized during the 2012 TERMIS World Congress in Vienna on Sept. 6.

Atala is director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Williams is its director of international affairs.

Wake Forest Baptist Faculty Member Listed in Becker’s Spine Review

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Oct. 24, 2012 – Charles Branch, Jr., M.D., professor of neurosurgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has been listed in Becker’s Spine Review as one of the “60 Spine Surgeon Inventors to Know.”

These spine surgeons were selected based on their research and innovation within the field. This includes their involvement in the development of spine surgical devices and techniques.

Read more about Branch’s recognition on the Becker’s Spine Review site.

Wake Forest Baptist Neurologist Named President-Elect of Association

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Oct. 24, 2012 – Francis Walker, M.D., professor of neurology, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has been named president-elect of the American Association of Electrodiagnostic and Neuromuscular Medicine (AANEM).

Walker will serve a three year term as president and sit on the board of directors of the organization.

The AANEM has approximately 5,000 members and is the second largest association for neurologists. According to the AANEM site, the organization is “dedicated to the advancement of neuromuscular, musculoskeletal and eletrodiagnostic medicine” in order to improve the quality of patient care for those with muscle and nerve disorders.

Visit http://aanem.org/About-Us.aspx to learn more.  

Media Relations

Mac Ingraham: mingraha@wakehealth.edu, 336-716-3487