Learning Together with Our Colleagues from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

On Monday, we were delighted to host my dear friend and colleague, Dennis Wagner, the Director of the Quality Improvement and Innovation Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and several of his colleagues from CMS on our Lean Daily Management rounds.

I worked with Dennis and learned so much from him when he was the director of  The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) national initiative to increase organ donation and I was the national co-chair. Dennis is an expert in social marketing and leading groups to attain bold goals. He co-leads CMS’s Partnership for Patients collaborative, which has been incredibly successful in improving care in U.S. hospitals and in which GBMC participates. I previously visited CMS and participated in their LDM walk, so I was grateful that Dennis came to see ours.

We got some great insights from Dennis and his team that will only make our rounding better. Dennis was very impressed with the spirit of improvement that he found throughout our healthcare system.

Thank You to Our Social Workers!
March is Professional Social Work Month and I would like to thank the devoted group of social workers who serve GBMC. Our social workers help inpatients and outpatients navigate the complexity of the medical care world and prepare them for discharge along with our care managers. They’ve helped GBMC maintain one of the lowest readmission rates in the state. Please thank our social workers for all that they do to move us closer to our vision.

Left to right: Chris Greenawalt, MD &
Rekha Motagi, MD

New Director of our Hospitalist Program
Chris Greenawalt, MD, has been named as our new Director of the Hospitalist Program. Dr. Greenawalt has been a leading member of the GBMC hospitalist group since 2003.

He received his medical degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine and is board-certified in Internal Medicine. He not only has vast experience in working as a hospitalist, but also in helping hospitalist programs flourish.

“Hospitalists” are physicians who specialize in hospital medicine and devote their time exclusively to caring for inpatients. They communicate during admission and discharge with the primary care physicians, assuring continuity of care.

During Dr. Greenawalt’s time at GBMC, he served as the Assistant Director of the Hospitalist Group for six years and participated in multiple committees, including the Credentials Committee. In addition to his new leadership responsibilities, Dr. Greenawalt will continue to care for patients in the hospital as an attending physician. I would also like to thank Dr. Rekha Motagi, who is stepping down as Director of the Hospitalist Program for her years of outstanding service. Rekha will continue to see patients in the Hospitalist group.

Thank you to Dr. Motagi and congratulations to Dr. Greenawalt!