A New Year & New Adventures—A Farewell Message

Dear Readers,

I am writing to share some exciting news: this Thursday, January 15^th 2015, I will be joining the administration of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake as the Commissioner of Health in Baltimore City. In this role, I will be overseeing our agency of 1,100 strong to lead the activities of the Health Department, which include health promotion and disease prevention, aging and care services, environmental health, animal control, and food safety.

This is an amazing opportunity to serve and to combine my passion for community engagement, public health, and patient-centered care to help those who were most vulnerable. Baltimore faces many health disparities that are rooted in poverty, violence, and substance abuse—but it’s also a city with extremely committed civic and faith leaders, engaged community organizations, strong foundation presence, and the longest continuous-serving health department in the country that has an outstanding history of service and innovation.

My last couple of years at George Washington University have been fantastic. I’ve loved teaching residents and students and providing care in our ER; serving as Founding Director of Patient-Centered Care Research; leading a new collaboration between GW and Kaiser Permanente on social mission and health policy with my mentor Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan; and researching and speaking about paradigm changes in healthcare reform (including a talk on Who’s My Doctor and our transparency campaign that is now on TED.com). While I’m sad to leave my inspiring students and extraordinary colleagues, I am honored and humbled to be selected to this new role to fight for health equity and social justice.

Thank you for following this blog for the last two years and advancing our common vision that patients, families, and providers can work together to be empowered to better health. I will be continuing to comment on public health and healthcare transformation on my Twitter account @DrLeanaWen and Facebook site. We will also be featuring announcements and guest posts at the official Baltimore City Health Department Twitter @BMore_Healthy and BCHD Facebook page.

Ten years ago, I wrote an essay for The New York Times that began with a quote by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. I end this blog (for now) with another quote by Dr. King, as it explains my core vision and drive: “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and most inhumane.”

Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do. Please join me in this next chapter to fight against injustice and to improve health and well-being.

Sincerely,

Leana Wen, M.D. M.Sc.

Life in an Urban ER

I wrote a piece for NPR about the patients we see in an urban ER, and how every day is a reminder that health doesn't exist in a vacuum.

 

Even in the time-limited setting of the ER, it's important for providers to understand where our patients live, work and play. It's these conversations that allow us to diagnose and treat the real causes of our patients' ills.

 

Why the ER Doctor Asks Patients What's Happening At Home

Thanks to everyone for reading, and in particular to the many people who pointed out the critical necessity of teamwork--with nurses, physician assistants, technicians, nurse practictioners, case managers, students, social workers, and many more. 

 

Indeed, it takes an entire team to provide true care. As people have commented on NPR's Facebook site, we in the ER rely on social workers--many of whom are overworked yet try so hard to help our patients. Whenever we as docs and nurses refer patients to social workers, they are always fantastic about helping us. It's critical for us frontline providers who see patients first to ask the tough questions and look beyond the "chief complaint" in order to know to involve the other members of our team.

 

I have been fortunate over the course of my training and career to learn from and work with many incredibly caring, highly compassionate, and superbly competent providers. It's also the community leaders and neighborhood organizations who provide care outside the walls of our institution, who are critical to the health of people. 

 

On this Thanksgiving weekend, I give them, and all of you, my unending gratitude and deep respect. Thank you.