You have been chief medical officer of Piedmont Rockdale Hospital for a couple of months now. How would you describe the chief medical officer position to a patient with no medical background?

“The chief medical officer (CMO) is a liaison between the healthcare providers (physicians and advanced practice providers, or APPs) and the healthcare system. The CMO provides clinical insight for the healthcare leadership team to create a collaborative environment for providers to flourish in caring for patients. The CMO engages the providers to align with the goals of the healthcare system to improve quality, safety, stewardship, and patient experience.”

What is the role of a chief medical officer at a hospital during a large COVID surge?

“The CMO remains well-informed and knowledgeable to keep everyone safe – from COVID and from burnout. I work to maintain provider morale and help the hospital remain agile to continue treating all patients the way we would like to be treated. During large COVID surges, I help coordinate the logistics of treating patients with an overwhelmed ER and over-filled patient care units, all while we are under-staffed. I also ensure the continuation of the patient safety initiatives/protocols, as we adjust to having more temporary staff members and workflows modified for COVID.”

What are your goals in the new role and what excites you most about the challenge?

“I want to genuinely connect with the providers to work together more effectively.  I look for two-way conversations to ask questions, identify opportunities, set expectations, and openly communicate with providers to improve quality and safety.  I am most excited about collaborating with the providers to obtain the results we all need for better patient care.”

Your background is as a colorectal surgeon. Why did you want to become a doctor and how did you choose this area of medicine?

“I grew up in the New York City public school system; there were sub-specialized high school programs for many fields and I enjoyed the sciences. My mother quit smoking my freshman year in college and was diagnosed with lung cancer in my sophomore year; she died in my senior year.  When she was first diagnosed, my interactions with the physicians inspired me to pursue a career in medicine.

I thought I was going to be a pediatrician, but I fell in love with the immediate results of surgery.  Colorectal surgery provided for a range of patients and surgeries from screening colonoscopies in healthy 45-year-old patients to technically challenging rectal cancer surgeries. The advancing technology in the field was also exciting – we moved from open surgery to laparoscopic surgery to robotic surgery techniques. Lastly, the immediate results of helping a patient relieve their accidental bowel leakage, hemorrhoid pain or anal itching is very gratifying.”

Before accepting the chief medical officer position at Piedmont Rockdale, you held a number of leadership roles at Piedmont Atlanta Hospital (and beyond), including being elected the first female president of the medical staff in 115-plus years. Why is it important to you to serve in this way?

“Having a clinical ‘voice’ is important and participation is a critical component in collaboration with non-clinical healthcare leadership.  When I joined the Piedmont medical staff as a surgeon in 2003, I wanted to get to know everyone and understand the processes of the hospital. I was privileged to be elected by my peers to represent them in hospital leadership.”

You were the first surgeon in Georgia to implant something called an “InterStim sacral nerve stimulator” for fecal incontinence. Can you explain this device, who might need one, and how it improves patients’ quality of life?

“The surgery to repair the anus for fecal incontinence (accidental bowel leakage) is painful, requires a long recovery, and is often limited in its success.  The InterStim device was first approved for urinary incontinence and then subsequently approved for fecal incontinence as a very small implant to stimulate the sacral nerves. It improves patients’ quality of life by decreasing the number of accidents.  Patients that were previously wearing adult diapers and/or afraid to leave their homes feel more confident.”

Another first: you introduced a minimally invasive surgical technique, known as TEMS, to remove polyps and early cancers to the Atlanta area in 2008. How did this technique make a difference for patients?

“The three methods to remove rectal polyps were via colonoscopy, through abdominal surgery, or via the anus. The anal approach was much less invasive, less painful and led to earlier recovery, but it could only be used to reach polyps in the bottom three inches of the rectum. Transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEMS) was pioneered in the early 1980s and was a novel method using a scope to remove large rectal polyps and small early rectal cancers via the anus to avoid abdominal surgery. The TEMS scope allowed reach throughout the entire rectum to remove polyps that could not be removed by colonoscopy. TEMS was the precursor to transanal minimally invasive surgery (TAMIS), which has improved visualization/technical capabilities and has continued to decrease the role of invasive surgery.”

You also have a supervisory role over Piedmont’s supply chain. Supply chains of all kinds have been disrupted by the COVID pandemic. How have you been able to help the system adapt?

“Piedmont Healthcare Supply Chain has been led by Joe Colonna, chief supply chain & project management officer, since 2008. My advisory role is to provide clinical insight for the Supply Chain team and to provide transparency to the healthcare providers to create greater efficiencies for providing safe patient care. We’ve had to adapt the methods we use to procure, receive, and store supplies (e.g., medications, COVID testing supplies and vaccines) and adjust for the change in patient services (cancelling surgeries to increasing ICU/medical care).”

Do you still see patients? If not, what will you miss most about direct patient care?

“I last saw patients on Sept. 30, 2021, as I knew I could not devote enough time for high-quality surgery/direct patient care, while focusing on my CMO role.  I miss the technical aspects of surgery and, of course, I miss the patient relationships!”

What do you think has been the greatest lesson of the COVID pandemic so far?

“COVID does not discriminate and has been unrelenting. Constant monitoring and reevaluation of our processes is needed. I appreciate the resiliency of Piedmont in maintaining its culture of quality and safety for its patients, providers, and staff.”