UH-NEOMED Leadership Day spotlights accomplishments and future goals

The first University Hospitals-NEOMED Leadership Day was held Nov. 7 in Watanakunakorn Auditorium. Ninety guests from the two organizations learned the history of the affiliation between UH and NEOMED, heard updates on joint projects and got a glimpse at the future.

In welcoming attendees to the event, NEOMED President John Langell, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., noted the affiliation between UH and NEOMED is “two hometown teams coming together to meet the needs of the community.”

Cliff Megerian, M.D., FACS, UH chief executive officer and the Jane and Henry Meyer Chief Executive Officer Distinguished Chair, provided highlights of achievements accomplished through the affiliation.

Some of those achievements were further spotlighted in presentations by staff of the two organizations:

Giselle Hamad, M.D., associate dean of clinical faculty affairs and professor of surgery at NEOMED, and Debra Leizman, M.D., director of medical student education and clerkship director for internal medicine at UH, discussed M3 clerkships at UH, which have increased from 77 to 206 since the partnership began.
Sabrina Cali, Ph.D., director of the Health and Well-being Coaching program at NEOMED, and Francoise Adan, M.D., chief whole health and well-being officer at UH, shared an update on the Health and Well-being Coaching certificate program. Nearly 40 learners have joined the course, which launched earlier this year. Twenty learners from the first cohort are registered for the board exam from the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching.
Janel Koellner, M.A.Ed., director of faculty relations and professional development at NEOMD, and Elizabeth Harcher, designated institutional official for UH, discussed the Fellowship in Academic Medicine in Clinical Education (FAME-E) program. FAME-E, established at NEOMED 35 years ago, was reimagined to make it accessible to UH learners with a hybrid delivery model including asynchronous online content, synchronous learning sessions over Zoom, and a planned in-person FAME-E Academic Day in May. Forty learners are in the first cohort that began in July 2024.
Jordan Cinderich, M.Ed., LSSBB, director for operational excellence at NEOMED, and David Vodhanel, EMT-P, LSSBB, provided an update on Lean Six Sigma. Since March 2024, 128 learners from UH have enrolled in yellow belt and green belt sessions, leading to 55 active improvement projects at UH addressing sepsis, medication management and waste reduction, among others.

Following the presentation, Daniel Simon, M.D., president for academic and external affairs and chief scientific officer at UH, presented an outline of the new five-year strategic plan for the UH-NEOMED affiliation. The plan focuses on shared priorities of UH and NEOMED, including education and workforce development; leadership and faculty development; clinical and community impact; and translational research excellence.

Leadership Day capped off as Patricia DePompei, RN, M.S.N., president of UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s and MacDonald Women’s hospitals, shared her insights on infant and maternal health on VITALS | Visionary Health Leadership in Action, presented by NEOMED in collaboration with UH.