WHSC Establishes Office of Well-Being

Emory University’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center has established the WHSC Office of Well-Being. The office will be a central resource for the entire Woodruff Health Sciences Center, which includes Emory Healthcare. The focus will be the design, direction, and implementation of programs that address environmental stressors among clinicians, health professionals, faculty, and staff in clinical, research and academic health sciences areas.

The goals of the office include facilitating systemwide changes that prioritize and promote wellness and professional fulfillment while establishing a robust well-being research foundation.

“We are excited to begin this initiative and to announce our co-leadership structure,” says Jonathan S. Lewin, Emory’s executive vice president of health affairs and CEO of Emory Healthcare. “Health care and academic research, while integral to the health of our nation, are stressful careers. Our strategy is to build an integrated program in which our employees throughout Emory’s health sciences enterprise benefit from work that is collaborative and built around physical and emotional health and compassion, so that our employees can continue to improve lives and provide hope to those we serve.”

Wellness or well-being is not a new concept in corporate or academic environments. According to the Harvard Business Review, more than nine in 10 organizations across the globe offer employees at least one kind of wellness benefit, and more than three in five have dedicated “wellness budgets,” which are expected to expand by 7.8% in the coming years.

A 2018 Blue Ridge Academic Health Group report addressed the issue of stress among health care providers and the need for research and programs on well-being. Among its conclusions: “It is clear that the ‘healing’ of care- givers cannot be accomplished solely through ‘self-help.’ Just as the best care for patients is achieved through teamwork and support, addressing burnout and advancing the wellness of health care providers will require leadership and institutional commitment.”

The Woodruff Health Sciences Center and Emory Healthcare employ more than 34,000 individuals, including 7,000 nurses who serve as expert clinicians and an essential surveillance system for hospital care.

“This novel interprofessional approach to improve well-being for all clinicians, health sciences faculty, and researchers will accelerate improvement for individuals and the systems they use to care for patients, while building community with their colleagues,” says Sharon Pappas, chief nurse executive, Emory Healthcare.

The office will initially be led by co-chief well-being officers Tim Cunningham and Chad Ritenour, both of whom will dedicate their time, energy, and creativity to establishing the office.

Cunningham is currently the vice president for practice and innovation for Emory Healthcare and adjunct associate professor in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. Ritenour is chief medical officer of Emory University Hospital and professor of urology in Emory University School of Medicine. Cunningham and Ritenour will report directly to Lewin in this capacity and began their appointments on Jan. 1, 2022.

“We wanted to ensure this important initiative got off the ground and started on a positive trajectory right away,” says Lewin. “This leadership appointment illustrates a holistic approach, bringing together two established leaders whose backgrounds in nursing and medicine ensure the creation of a collaborative and balanced strategy that focuses on support for individuals.” EHD