American Family Care Builds New Headquarters
With the acquisition of Trinity Medical Contractors and Doctors Express over the past two years, American Family Care has outgrown its office space. As a result, the company, currently located on Riverchase Road in Hoover, has begun construction on new corporate offices on Cahaba Beach Road in Birmingham.
The 30,000 square foot building, which includes a main floor, mezzanine and basement/loading dock, will be built on a five acre lot. The project will be completed in February 2015.
Including the building purchase price and the total renovation, AFC’s capital investment in the project is around $4.75 million. The new building is designed for AFC’s 180 employees with space for up to 225 and will house the health care provider’s executive, IT, marketing, human resources, occupational medicine, purchasing, provider relations, claims processing and customer service departments. It will also include DBI Properties and a Central Lab. Also making its home in the new offices will be AFC/Doctors Express.
UAB MHRC Awarded $3 million to Battle Health Disparities
The UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center won a grant of nearly $3 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce the gap in chronic diseases between blacks and whites in Birmingham by improving nutrition and physical activity in underserved African-American communities.
The award is part of a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiative to support public health efforts to reduce chronic diseases, promote healthier lifestyles, reduce health disparities and control health care spending.
The project, “Birmingham REACH for Better Health,” is a partnership between UAB, the Jefferson County Department of Health, United Way of Central Alabama, Freshwater Land Trust, Birmingham YMCA, REV Birmingham, Safe Routes to School and the City of Birmingham.
The project will last three years and reach more than 116,000 people.
Birmingham neighborhoods where at least 65 percent of the residents are African-American will be the main targets. Activities will be focused on improving nutrition and physical activity.
Medical West Promotes Gooch and Caudle
Medical West has named Monty Gooch to the position of FED Director.
Gooch joined Medical West in 2011 as the Emergency Department Director. He received his Bachelors Degree in Nursing from the University of North Alabama.
He began his career in Intensive Care before moving to the Emergency Room in 2002. He worked as a nurse manager in emergency rooms in North Alabama and Middle Tennessee from 2005 - 2011.
Medical West has also promoted Sloan Caudle to the position of CU Nurse Manager.
Caudle received his bachelors degree from the University of Alabama and his nursing degree from Shelton State Community College. He has been with Medical West for over 19 years, holding previous positions as staff nurse and charge nurse.
Kulbersh Honored by UGA
Brian Kulbersh, MD, who practices otolaryngology at Children’s of Alabama, was recently named as a University of Georgia Class of 2014 40 Under 40 Honoree.
After graduating from UGA in 2001, Kulbersh completed his General Surgery Internship and Otolaryngology Residency at UAB. He is certified by the American Board of Otolaryngology.
The UGA Alumni Association founded the 40 Under 40 program to honor young, successful alumni who have made a significant impact in their field of work by the time they are 40 years old.
UAB Part of NIH-funded Consortia Studying Rare Diseases
Physician scientists at 22 consortia, including investigators at UAB will collaborate with representatives of 98 patient advocacy groups to advance clinical research and investigate new treatments for patients with rare diseases.
The collaborations are made possible through awards by the National Institutes of Health to expand the Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network.
There are several thousand rare diseases, and only a few hundred have treatments available. Combined, rare diseases affect an estimated 25 million Americans.
UAB is involved with clinical research in two different projects. The first deals with three disorders of the nervous system: Rett syndrome, MECP2 duplication disorder and RTT-related disorders, under the direction of Alan Percy, MD, medical director of the UAB Civitan International Research Center. These conditions strike previously healthy-seeming children — usually girls for RTT and boys for MECP2 duplication disorder — early in their lives and can lead to seizures, difficulty with fine motor control and walking, and intellectual disability. This project will launch clinical trials in the coming months.
In the second project, UAB will be part of a 10-member group of medical centers headed by Boston Children’s Hospital in studying three rare genetic syndromes: tuberous sclerosis complex, Phelan-McDermid syndrome and PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome, which often cause autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability. Martina Bebin, MD, professor of neurology, is the lead investigator at UAB for the $6 million, five-year study. The goal is to launch clinical trials of new treatments and develop biomarkers that can be used to monitor treatment effectiveness for the three rare syndromes, and possibly for broader groups of ASD/ID patients.
Connell Named Executive Director of Baptist Health Foundation
Baptist Health System has named Paige Connell as executive director of the Baptist Health Foundation. In her 20 years of experience in nonprofit executive management, Connell has helped raise more than $20 million in support of various causes.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Connell served as the regional director for the Alabama Kidney Foundation, where she established the Birmingham regional office. She also served as the first executive director of the Central Alabama Cancer Wellness Foundation.
Before joining the healthcare industry in 2002, Connell served as the director of advancement for the Alabama Wildlife Federation, as well as the executive director for Legacy, Partners in Environmental Education. She received her Bachelor of Science in political science and her master’s degree in public administration from Auburn University at Montgomery.
Trinity Names Administrative HR Director
Jeri Wink, PHR, has been named Administrative Director of Human Resources at Trinity Medical Center. Prior to this appointment, she served as Director of Human Resources for Saloncentric, a division of L’Oreal.
Wink received her bachelor’s degree in human resources management from Auburn University. Upon graduation she joined Russell Corporation as a Human Resources Manager in Alexander City before being promoted to Director of Human Resources and Talent Acquisition with Russell Corporation in Atlanta. She also spent four years working with Fruit of the Loom, Inc., in Bowling Green, KY, as Director of Human Resources responsible for corporate recruiting and relocation.
Read Joins Cullman Primary Care
Martha A. Read, MD, PharmD, MLIS has joined Cullman Primary Care (CPC) as a Family Practitioner.
Read graduated Cum Laude with a Doctor of Medicine degree from the UAB school of Medicine. Prior to that, she obtained a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Samford University McWhorter School of Pharmacy. She also completed a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology, Summa Cum laude, at Vanderbilt University and a Master of Library and Information Studies from The University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies.
Read completed her Family Medicine residency at Montgomery Family Medicine in June 2014, and previously trained as a Pathology Resident at UAB Medical Center and a Pediatric Intern at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. She was formerly Director of Medical Informatics at The University of Alabama School of Medicine, College of Community Health Sciences in Tuscaloosa. Read has also worked as a clinical information librarian, pharmacist and an assistant professor at Samford University and The University of Alabama.
Trinity Awarded for Employee Satisfaction
Trinity Medical Center was recently recognized with an Excellence through Insight award for “Most Improved Overall Employee Satisfaction” in the large hospital category by HealthStream, Inc.
To qualify for this award, a hospital must have been an employee satisfaction client of HealthStream in 2013 and scored in the 75th percentile or better. Trinity was chosen for receiving the highest ratings in employee satisfaction from among HealthStream’s clients, as well as for exceeding industry standards.
