June 2022 Excela Health Among First in Nation to Use Innovative Technology to Identify Lung Cancer Page 2 Making Rounds with Excela Health Page 3 Provider Publications Page 4 & 5 Advances Continue in Excela Health Heart Program Page 4 Excela Health Orthopedic Surgeons Named Among Nation’s ‘Rising Stars’ and Top Doctors Page 6 Outpatient Diabetes Education Center Merits Continued Recognition From American Diabetes Association Page 7
Friends and Colleagues,
This time of year seems to be filled with clichés. It’s not the end, it’s a new beginning. We’re out of here! All good things must come to an end. And so, the end of my time as the President of the Medical Staff comes to an end as well. It has been 2+ years that I could have never predicted or imagined. And I don’t simply mean the COVID-19 pandemic. I represented you through the departure of the CEO, and the subsequent search that resulted in naming John Sphon as our leader. I provided input to a strategic plan process that began the development of the service line model, growth strategies and patient care improvement initiatives. I congratulated people doing well and tried to support those facing struggles. I asked many times for your help, and you never let me down. So many of you reached out to check and be sure I was ok. In my last letter to you, I’d like to leave you with a story. A story about my dad, and it occurs to me, some of you actually know him. I’ve learned many things from my dad, not just how to solve a math equation, or how to fix a dripping faucet, but through his example, lessons that continue to shape my life. You see, my dad told me a story about a professor from his college days. A professor that took a chance on him and wrote a letter of recommendation that encouraged a graduate program to consider that the measure of a successful student should be so much more than simply their knowledge of their textbooks. Over my life, this message grew, and blossomed into what has become my vision of success. What does it mean to succeed? As I’ve grown, I have settled on this. Success is unique, and different for each person. But it comes back to this; success is using your gifts and talents to improve the lives of those around you. And so, in closing, thank you for allowing me to represent you, the most truly successful group of people I know. Thank you for taking the mission of Excela Health to heart and striving to improve the health and well-being of every life we touch. Those coming after me are people I admire not only as clinicians, but as people who share in this hope to help others. I will continue to do my best to represent you well in all I do here. And I will always be honored that you trusted me with this responsibility.
Heather Walker, MD President, Excela Medical Staff
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