Announcing the 2010 Salute to Service Winners
22 October 2010
The following indviduals are the 2010 recipients of the Foundation's Annual Salute to Service Awards. They were honored at the Physicians' Gala at the Westfield's Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia on October 22, 2010. The annual Salute to Service awards are designed to recognize the outstanding efforts that have substantially improved patient care, both locally and abroad. Salutes are extended to physicians, medical students and Alliance members who are dedicated to developing and nurturing a caring health promotion and disease prevention environment by providing service on behalf of patients everywhere.
The 2010 Salute to Service Awards are sponsored by Bon Secours Richmond Health System, The Doctors' Company Foundation, and the MSV Alliance.
2010 Award Recipients
Alfred Z. Abuhamad, MD
Service to the International Community
Cynthia S. Kelly, MD
Service for Advancing Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
Karen Rheuban, MD
Service to the Uninsured and Underserved
Carolyn E. Thomas, MD
Service to the Profession
Richard M. Hubbard
Service by a Medical Student or Resident
Alfred Z. Abuhamad, MD
Service to the International Community
Having authored two books, 20 chapters, and 120 articles and serving as an invited speaker at more than 500 international OBGYN and radiology meetings, it is not surprising that Dr. Abuhamad has earned acclaim as the Chairman of the Department of OBGYN, the Mason C. Andrews Professor of OBGYN, a Professor of Radiology and the Associate Dean of Medical Affairs at Eastern Virginia Medical School. But Dr. Abuhamad’s real passion is serving as a tireless advocate for the widespread needs in maternal and fetal health around the world. He has organized and launched an OBGYN ultrasound training course for physicians, nurse midwives, and nurses in third world countries. It was successfully piloted in Haiti and is now a model for expansion with plans for adoption in Ghana and Somaliland. Dr. Abuhamad has recruited the ultrasound industry’s support for this program as well as volunteer teachers in his role as Chairman of the International Society of Ultrasound in OBGYN (ISUOG) Outreach Committee. Most recently, he was in Haiti for the third ultrasound course when the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010 struck. Dr. Abuhamad worked tirelessly for the next 2 days triaging patients, setting bones, stitching up lacerations and using the ultrasound to diagnose internal trauma. His work was captured on CNN and saved countless lives. He continues to search for the best models of training, education, and service to address the new horrific realities that face the medically needy in Haiti.
“More impressive than the partnerships Dr. Abuhamad forged was his deep understanding of the needs of physicians and professionals in Haiti. He recognized that Haitian health professionals were hungry for advanced training and that equipment often deemed too sophisticated for a rural setting was desperately needed to improve health outcomes for pregnant women in this region. He was not daunted by the logistical challenges; rather he made a commitment to train staff in their own country and at their own facilities. It is rare that Partners in Health is approached with an initiative that is so thoughtfully designed and so focused on the growth of our Haitian staff."
– Paul Farmer, MD, PHD, Co-Founder Partners in Health
Cynthia S. Kelly, MD
Service for Advancing Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
Dr. Kelly is an accomplished pediatrician, allergist, and immunologist whose list of professional appointments include Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Pediatrics at Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters; Board of Directors of the National Respiratory Training Center; and Associate of the Center for Managing Chronic Disease at the University of Michigan. A skilled grant writer, she has received multiple grant awards totaling over $3 million to improve the quality of asthmatic care. But Dr. Kelly is best known for her passion for developing and spreading clinical best practices. A member of the Asthma Steering Group for the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD), Dr. Kelly developed an asthma inpatient pathway which standardized care for inpatient asthmatics using peer reviewed “best practice” and incorporated a multidisciplinary approach. She also developed of a “dashboard” of QI for review by the CHKD Board with a focus on decreasing blood stream infections in low birth weight infants, decreasing dosing errors of high risk drugs, and improving patient satisfaction and decreasing wait times in the emergency department. Additionally, Dr. Kelly has grown an allergy clinic from one part-time provider to currently four additional allergists, and has volunteered her medical services free of charge to low income children while working on a project offering allergen remediation in the home.
“Dr. Kelly is one of those outstanding physicians who understands that improvements in health care happen not only in the clinic setting, but are complemented and strengthened by actions and behaviors undertaken at the level of the community and patient. She is able to juggle the complex demands of a busy allergy clinic with a notable presence in the Hampton Roads community through her volunteer activities.”
– Judith Taylor-Fishwick, PhD, Center for Pediatric Research
Karen Rheuban, MD
Service to the Uninsured and Underserved
As a pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Rheuban knows only too well what can happen to medically underserved patients when they cannot receive timely access to specialty medical care. It has been her life’s work to remedy this problem. In 1990, she established the Office of Telemedicine at the University of Virginia and served as a pioneer in the establishment of telemedicine services. Through her trailblazing work, telemedicine services are now being provided to nearly a hundred sites across the Commonwealth by dozens of different medical specialties. Her leadership was recognized nationally in 2009 when she was elected to serve as President of the American Telemedicine Association. During the 2010 session of the General Assembly, she served as lead citizen advocate for Senate Bill 675, which required health insurance companies to pay for healthcare rendered via telemedicine. When Governor McDonnell signed the Senate Bill 675 into law at a public bill signing, it was conducted on the telemedicine system from VCU with live sites participating from southwest Virginia and the Northern Neck. Dr. Rheuban was selected by the Governor to speak, and one of her first comments was, “Information is the greatest medicine.” Karen has shared this medicine with thousands.
“The most significant legislative action to improve the health care of my constituents came at the hand of Karen. Her work to advance telemedicine will enable the citizens of southwest Virginia to have access to quality health care and specialists which are not available in our communities.”
- Senator William C. Wampler, Jr.
Carolyn E. Thomas
Service to the Profession
Dr. Thomas has served the medical profession for over 30 years and has helped tens of thousands of patients and doctors by working selflessly to improve access to care, advance patient safety, and make a measurable difference on individual and community health. While serving as President of the Richmond Academy of Medicine in 2001, Dr. Thomas coordinated the physician response to the terrorist acts of 9/11. Having already received extensive training from the CDC, she conducted a series of educational programs for community physicians, providing critical training on how to respond to potential acts of bioterrorism. She was soon asked to serve on the Commonwealth’s Bioterrorism Task Force by Governor Gilmore. Next, she established the advisory board that led to the creation of Access Now, which provides specialty medical care to thousands of residents of Central Virginia who lack health insurance and the means to afford it. Access Now has provided more than $6 million of charity care utilizing a network of 900 volunteer physicians. Dr. Thomas currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Health Quality Center and recently accepted appointment at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine as volunteer medical alumnus to screen medical student applications for admission.
“From her tireless work helping organize and lead Access Now to her innovative actions in the dark days after 9/11 when she trained physicians to deal with the threat of bioterrorism, Carolyn has been on the vanguard of our profession.”
- Johnny C.L.Wong, MD and Georgean G. deBlois, MD
Richard M. Hubbard
Service by a Medical Student or Resident
As a second year rising medical student, Mr. Hubbard has already take remarkable steps to improve the quality of life in Bangladesh, Jamaica, and Haiti. While attending the University of the South as an undergraduate, he received a summer research grant that took him to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. While there, he encountered a year old patient, Halima, who was severely malnourished and weighed only seven pounds. He took her to a nearby hospital and paid all of her medical bills until she recovered. He has since returned to Bangladesh five times to care for its poor and needy. Wanting to do more, Mr. Hubbard co-founded The Basic Needs Program, a non-profit which provides housing, clothing, food, education, and medical care to families in Bangladesh who have lost a breadwinning father. The Basic Needs Program raised a total of $20,000 in 2009 and was able to open its first school and orphanage. Mr. Hubbard recently returned from a four week trip to Bangladesh where he conducted vision screening as well as epidemiological research on infant mortality with the support of a $1,200 grant from the Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Family Medicine.
“Richard gives selflessly to improve the quality of life for children in a third world country. While other students are using their break time to ski, go to the beach, or travel, Richard uses his to raise funds for the Basic Needs Project and to carry out mission trips to Bangladesh.”
– Isaac K. Wood, MD, Senior Associate Dean VCU School of Medicine