The Medical Society Of Virginia Foundation
The Medical society of virginia foundation & Centra
Health
are honored to present the 2007 salute to service awards
Peter W. Houck, MD
Service to the Uninsured & Underserved
Dixie Tooke-Rawlins, DO
Service to the International Community
Frederick L. Fox, MD
Service to the Profession
J. Eric Sutherland
Service by a Medical Student or Resident
Montgomery Regional Hospital
Medical Staff
Service in Times of Adversity
Dr. Peter Houck
has become well-known for his service to the uninsured and medically
needy of central Virginia through his work at Johnson Health Services.
Dr. Houck is the first Director of the Johnson Health Center (JHC),
a federally qualified Community Health Center that opened in 1998 to
meet the needs of Lynchburg’s medically underserved. He has seen
the Center grow from a staff of five to a staff of 55, serving over
12,000 largely uninsured Central Virginians. Under Dr. Houck’s
leadership, the JHC established: a mental health program for 500 uninsured
patients who did not meet the local Community Services Board criteria
for mental health services; a dental clinic that serves over 2,000 patients
a year; and a prenatal care program for lower income and uninsured women.
Dr. Houck also presided over Project Connect, which increased enrollment
in Medicaid and FAMIS in Lynchburg from five percent of eligible children
to 99 percent. Seeing the need for local specialty care, Dr. Houck developed
the Johnson Partners Program, a network of local specialists who agree
to see JHC patients on a sliding scale to decrease need for travel to
UVa.
In addition to his work at the JHC, Dr. Houck helped develop and initially
managed the neonatal care unit at Virginia Baptist Hospital. He is a
local historian and writer with numerous publications, including Ed’s
Story and Forgotten Faces, two books about real patients at the JHC
and how they were let down by the community that claims to care for
the medically needy. He continues to be very involved in local programs
and advocates for major changes in health care.
Dr. Dixie Tooke-Rawlins’
service in Latin America and the Dominican Republic, her job as an active
medical school dean, and her role as a mentor and guide to countless
students, only begins to reveal the impact she has made on this world.
Dr. Tooke-Rawlins is the founding Dean of the Virginia College of Osteopathic
Medicine (VCOM) at Virginia Tech. While in this position, she has developed
a Global Health Leadership MS/PhD/DO program to motivate the next generation
of international caregivers. Dr. Tooke-Rawlins also established a Global
Forum and Seminar on Health and the Environment to advance education
and sharing of ideas internationally. Through her hard work and dedication,
medical service sites have been established in the Dominican Republic,
El Salvador, and Honduras, and their permanency has been maintained
through government and political partnerships. These sites see 30 to
60 patients a day, mostly year round. As Dean, Dr. Tooke-Rawlins led
a medical mission team of first year medical students to the Dominican
Republic where they traveled around the population of 8,000 to conduct
a door-to-door polio and scabies eradication. Students from the Dominican
high school helped the team as translators while being mentored in medical
education and preventative medicine.
Dr. Tooke-Rawlins’ medical mission leadership is also extended
to those in times of crisis. She led a team of more than 20 physicians
and medical students to Mississippi to provide medical care following
Hurricane Katrina. Since she had no replacement, she stayed for three
weeks to deliver medical relief to over 2,000 individuals. Following
the Tsunami in December 2004, Dr. Tooke-Rawlins led a medical relief
trip to India. Under her leadership, VCOM was awarded the Clinton Global
Initiative Award by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Dr. Fred Fox,
for his years of service to the Rockingham medical community, has truly
been the face of medicine in the Harrisonburg region. Dr. Fox has served
as the President of the Rockingham County Medical Society in 1985, 1995,
and 2000 – 2007, and he is largely responsible for its continued
existence. Under his leadership and tireless efforts, this organization
has provided social interaction in the Harrisonburg medical community
through annual holiday dinners and summer social gatherings. It has
also awarded scholarships locally, provided memorial gifts, worked with
the MSV Alliance on community projects, and provided financial support
to the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Free Clinic. Dr. Fox’s efforts
on behalf of the Medical Society of Virginia include: service on the
MSV and VAMPAC Boards from 1990 to the present; MSV delegate for the
past 21 years; member of MSV’s Executive Committee, 1997-1998;
Chairman of VAMPAC, 1997-1998; and Councilor/Board of Directors of the
6th District of the MSV 1996-1998.
In addition to his service to organized medicine, Dr. Fox is a pillar
of his local community. He welcomes every new doctor at the Rockingham
Memorial Hospital, offering his assistance and an MSV application. He
established an outpatient orthopaedic clinic at the Harrisonburg-Rockingham
Free Clinic where he also serves as a volunteer physician. Following
personal tragedy, Dr. Fox and his wife Gail founded and sponsor the
Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chapter of The Compassionate Friends. Through
this organization, Dr. and Mrs. Fox provide comfort and support to parents
who have lost children. Dr. Fox is also involved with the Harrisonburg-Rockingham
Community Foundation, Rotary International, and serves as a volunteer
for Project Read, reading stories to Kindergarten through third grade
students.
Student
Doctor Sutherland is an exceptional representative for the
medical profession, as shown through his service and commitment to the
underserved in rural Appalachia and internationally. As a member of
the first graduating class of the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine
(VCOM), Mr. Sutherland is a recipient of the VCOM International and
Public Health Leadership Fellowship. He is pursuing a joint DO/PhD degree
that will demonstrate a research proficiency in Global Health Leadership.
With a dissertation topic of The Use of Telesonography to Improve the
Standard of Patient Care within a Medically Underserved Dominican Community,
his research will translate into sonography access for 7,000 patients
of the Dominican Republic.
While a student, Mr. Sutherland participated in three month-long clinical
rotations in Honduras, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic. He cared
for more than 600 patients in these countries and learned medical Spanish
to better serve his patients. He provided free medical services and
medicines while working collaboratively with VCOM doctors within each
country. Adapting to the variety of infrastructure facilities, transportation,
communication systems, and medical equipment and supplies, he met the
needs of those he served professionally and compassionately.
Mr. Sutherland organized the first student chapter of the Medical Society
of Virginia at VCOM. In addition, he has served as a student director
on the boards of the Medical Society of Virginia Foundation and VAMPAC.
He was an alternate student delegate to the American Medical Association
and participated in the Global Seminar on Health and the Environment.
Upon completion of his degree, Mr. Sutherland will return home to practice
medicine in the medically underserved area of southwestern Virginia.
The medical staff of
the Montgomery Regional Hospital receives this award for their
compassionate response to the shootings at Virginia Tech on April 16,
2007. The staff provided care that has been described as “calm,
passionate, and very focused on saving lives.” Those directly
involved with patient care and diagnosis included:
-- General Surgeons Richard Davis, MD; Randall Lester, MD; and David
Stoeckle, MD
-- Orthopaedic Surgeons Demian Yakel, DO and Jeremy Hatch, MD
-- Anesthesiologists Robert Dallas, MD; Judy Gustafson, MD; and Donald
Heindel, MD
-- Emergency Department physicians Joseph Cacioppo, DO; David Lander,
MD; and Holly Wheeling, MD
-- Radiologists Michael Aronson, MD; Philip Hanline, MD; and Bertram
Newmark, MD
-- Pathologist Soheila Yadrandji, MD
-- Doctor of Internal Medicine Scott Boerth, MD
-- Otolaryngologist Aaron Prussin, MD
These physicians “just showed up and offered to hold retractors
and just aid in the response… They set aside dealing with their
own emotions and physical exhaustion during a very tragic, unsettling
event. They unselfishly gave of their time and themselves to ensure
that each patient and family member at the hospital, including those
that were there for reasons other than the campus incident, received
the best quality of care and medical treatment. They truly gave all
to the Blacksburg community and Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007.”
In 2004, the MSV Foundation announced the creation of these annual awards that recognize 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 creating and nurturing a caring health promotion and disease prevention environment by providing service on behalf of patients everywhere.
2008 Salute to Service Awards:
Deadline extended to June 2
Salute to Service nomination form
Medical Student Salute to Service nomination form
For more information, please contact Suzannah Stora at 804.377.1053.