Kansas Health Foundation gives $740K for KU School of Medicine-Wichita

LAWRENCE -- The Kansas Health Foundation has awarded two grants totaling more than $740,000 to help the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita develop more public health leaders in the state, Dean S. Edwards Dismuke, M.D., announced today.

The Wichita foundation's grant of $441,000 to the Kansas University Endowment Association established the Kansas Public Health Leadership Development Institute, a program intended to strengthen partnerships among public health professionals and provide training to help them meet future challenges. The second grant of $301,320 established the A.B. (Jack) Davis Jr. Endowed Fund to benefit the graduate medical education program. The gift honors Davis -- president of the foundation from 1991 to 1996 and former chief executive officer of Wesley Medical Center in Wichita -- for his ongoing commitment to graduate medical education in the Wichita area.

"The Public Health Leadership Development Institute will build and develop a network of public health leaders with enhanced abilities to strengthen the relationships among public health practitioners, health care providers, academia and communities," said Shirley Orr, local health director for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. She said the training will help health care workers face public health challenges such as the spread of the West Nile Virus and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

"In the past, this kind of training was only accessible to a handful of public health workers across the state," said Orr. "At the most, three or four people were able to attend a national institute program. With the creation of the Public Health Leadership Development Institute, each year approximately 25 public health practitioners, physicians and media representatives in Kansas will have the opportunity to gain leadership skills and learn creative and collaborative approaches to delivering essential public health services."

Institute participants will concentrate on building and nurturing partnerships between rural and urban areas, public and private health care professionals, and community leaders. They will be trained to go back to their hometowns and help community groups work together to tackle health-related issues, including infectious diseases and bioterrorism.

"Prior to 9/11 this type of preparedness training did not exist," said Craig Molgaard, professor and chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the School of Medicine-Wichita and director of the institute. "The institute will focus on communication skills and morale building, helping the participants recognize challenges and giving them the confidence to lead others to work together in times of crisis. We want them to be able to say, 'I can get that done,' when faced with a challenge."

Penny Vogelsang, director of graduate medical education at the school, said the second part of the foundation's gift, creating the Davis Fund, will help the medical school meet new accreditation standards.

"These new standards require residency programs to measure how well physicians are trained to meet patients' needs and require medical schools to evaluate how well doctors are trained in areas such as interpersonal communications and professionalism," Vogelsang said. "Our overall goal is to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of patient care, but we are bombarded with technology. Doctors are often so busy doing paperwork that they don't have a chance to look into the patient's eyes. We are taking a look at areas of concern and directing our training back to more patient-centered care."

Dismuke said the Davis Fund will be used initially for educational programs and to bring in national consultants. Eventually, the school may hire a permanent educator to integrate the program into the entire medical school.

"Medicine is changing," Dismuke said. "It's no longer enough for physicians to be knowledgeable scientists and experts in diagnosis and treatment. Society expects them to show professionalism and compassion and be good communicators. Our job as educators is to prepare our physicians to be leaders in the health care world of the future."

The Kansas Health Foundation, www.kansashealth.org, is a private philanthropy based in Wichita. Each year the foundation awards grants across the state totaling close to $20 million. The organization's primary funding areas are public health, children's health and leadership.

The two grants from the foundation count toward the $500 million goal of KU First: Investment in Excellence, the largest fund-raising campaign in KU history. KU Endowment is conducting KU First on behalf of KU through 2004 to raise funds for scholarships, fellowships, professorships, capital projects and program support. KU Endowment is an independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization for KU.