June 2014
News for Physicians affiliated
with Munson Medical Center
m
u
n
s
o
n
M e
d
i
c
a
l
c
e
n
t
e
r
Physician Appointment,
Reappointment
Process Goes Online
Medical Staff Services is
transitioning to an all online
appointment and reappointment process for physician
membership and privileges.
Franklin Ikunda, MD, visited the Munson Family Practice Residency
Program in May.
Chogoria Physician
Visits Munson
Caring for patients at PCEA
Chogoria Hospital, not far
from the base of Mount
Kenya and about 140 miles
northeast of Nairobi, offers
challenges not experienced
at Munson Medical Center.
At Chogoria medical charts
remain mostly on paper,
there are dozens of patients
for one doctor to see each
day, lab tests take a lot
longer, and consultations
are not available on a timely
basis.
“Many of the patients I have
seen being cared for here
see Visit, page 2
“New physician appointments
and physician reappointments will all be done online
electronically starting in July,”
said Kim McKinley, manager
of Medical Staff Services.
“We hope to process the first
group of reappointments and
new appointments then.”
Testing of the new online
system continues this month.
Reappointment is required
by regulatory agencies such
as the Joint Commission and
Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services and occurs
every two years. Munson
‘New physician
appointments and
physician reappointments will all be done
online electronically
starting in July.’
Kim McKinley, manager
Medical Staff Services
Healthcare hospitals process
their reappointments by section/specialty.
“Our centralized process
includes several Munson
Healthcare facilities who
participate at various levels,”
McKinley said. Those facilities include Munson Medical
Center, Kalkaska Memorial
see Appointments, page 2
PHYSICIANS’ CORNER: A Conversation With MEC President-Elect Brian Kiessling, MD
Anesthesiologist Brian
Kiessling, MD, recently was
elected as President-Elect
of the Medical Executive
Committee (MEC) that leads
Munson’s Medical Staff. He
has practiced at Munson
Medical Center since 2001
after nine years on the Tufts
University faculty.
Brian Kiessling, MD
Page 1 | MedNews | June 2014
His undergraduate degree
was from the University of
Michigan and medical degree
from Wayne State University
Medical School. His residency a daughter will be a junior
was completed as part of the
at West Senior High, and his
Tufts University system.
youngest daughter will start
seventh grade at West Middle
Among Dr. Kiessling’s hobSchool.
bies are running (15 marathons since 2001) and cycling. What interested you in
He enjoys gardening and
running for the MEC
caring for the family’s livepresidency?
stock on a small farm outside I’ve had the opportunity to
Traverse City. He and his wife, serve on several committees at
a nurse at Northwest MichiMunson Medical Center and
gan Surgery Center, have four have been on the Medical Exchildren. Twin sons are at
ecutive Committee for 5 years.
the University of Michigan,
see Dr. Kiessling, page 4
continued from page 1,
Visit
would be dead in Kenya,” said
Franklin Ikunda, MD, chief
medical officer at the hospital.
“If you need a cardiologist
you have to wait a month to
refer to the next clinic which
is 80 kilometers away. The
patient many not be able to
afford to make the trip.”
A neurologist is 200 kilometers away.
Heart for Fitness
Cardiologist Mark Elliott,
MD, FACC, rides to work
as part of Smart Commute
Week earlier this month.
He said in the summer,
his bike is his primary mode
of transportation.
continued from page 1,
Appointment
Health Center, Mercy
Hospital Cadillac, Mercy
Hospital Grayling, Paul
Oliver Memorial Hospital,
West Shore Medical Center,
the Grand Traverse Band,
and the Northwest Michigan Surgery Center.
With the new process, physicians will receive an email
invitation to the Physician
Home Page. A second email
will contain a password to
allow access to the home
page. McKinley said the
ultimate goal is to have a
physician apply for reappointment one time, every
two years, for all Munson
Healthcare facilities.
“They will just have to go
into one website, one time,
and complete the information for each facility,”
McKinley said.
Page 2 | MedNews | June 2014
Dr. Ikunda visited the
Munson Family Residency
Program late last month to
investigate the program as he
prepares to launch a four-year
Family Practice Residency
Program in Chogoria next
year. He plans to start with
two students.
Munson Family Practice
Residency Program started
sending residents to Chogoria after a suggestion in 2010
from Cardiologist David
MacIntosh, DO, FACC, who
takes Michigan State University osteopathic medical
students there each year.
Munson’s residency program
now has an ongoing collaboration with the hospital for
an international medicine
experience for residents.
“We have sent four teams to
Chogoria and now we are
privileged to have our second
physician from Chogoria visit
Munson. Dr. Ikunda is an
excellent ambassador from
Chogoria,” said David Klee,
MD, FAAFP, a member of the
faculty at the residency program. “Though the Munson
Family Medicine Residency
brought him to Munson to
help develop his skills as
a family medicine educa-
‘We don’t have the
luxury of many specialists, so you manage
the patients with the
limited resources you
have.’
Franklin Ikunda, MD
Chief Medical Officer
PCEA Chogorgia Hospital
tor, during his time here he
touched many people’s lives.”
While in Traverse City,
Dr. Ikunda spent time shadowing members of the Family
Practice Residency Program
staff as well as with gastroenterologist Kurt Sanford, MD,
who also has volunteered in
Chogoria.
“Having Franklin here in
person brought the abstract
idea of this collaboration into
a reality. His genuine spirit,
openness to new ideas, and
willingness to tackle innovative projects left a lasting
impression on not only our
faculty, staff, and residents,
but also many other Traverse
City residents,” Dr. Klee said.
Before leaving, Dr. Ikunda
offered special thanks to
Graduate Medical Education
Director J. William Rawlin,
DO, and Family Practice Residency physicians for making
the trip a success. He singled
out thanks to Roger Gerstle,
MD, and Dr. Klee “who made
me to live like a king in the
U.S.” as well as to Kelly Clark,
MD, and the residents who
have visited Chogoria.
“I have seen the way (faculty
here) teach and it has helped
me develop expectations of
what I should do and need
to strive to do,” he said. “The
experiences here were great.”
In Kenya, family practice
physicians practice at church
or government hospitals with
responsibility for patients in
medical and surgical wards,
the Emergency Department,
and outpatient clinics. They
also serve in administration
of the hospital and non-governmental organizations.
At Chogoria, Dr. Ikunda
makes rounds in the hospital through the various
wards each morning and also
responds to needs in the ER.
In the afternoons he works in
a clinic.
“We have much more HIV
than you have here with a lot
of complication and comorbidities,” he said. “We also
have TB in all forms.”
Providers from the U.S. who
visit quickly understand the
technology of medicine is
limited.
“We don’t have the luxury
of many specialists, so you
manage the patients with the
limited resources you have,”
he said. “They see how we do
it with our resources and they
get surprised.”
Dr. Klee said he has heard
from Dr. Ikunda since his
return to Chogoria.
“He has communicated that
his hospital administration
is strongly behind continued
development of our collaboration and excited about what
the future holds for the expanding relationship between
both Munson and PCEA Hospital as well as Chogoria and
Traverse City,” Dr. Klee said.
Stroke Team Receives John Stephen Memorial Quality Award
The 45-member multidisciplinary stroke team was honored with the James Stephen
Memorial Quality Award for
2014.
The 45-member team was led
by Primary Care Committee
Chair Donald Caraccio, MD;
and Kathleen Glaza, MSN,
RN, ACNS-BC; and Stroke
Coordinator Chris Peplinski,
RN. Its efforts resulted in the
hospital achieving Primary
Stroke Center certification
from the Joint Commission
by meeting requirements that
encompass the continuum of
care.
“This team has put forth
tremendous effort to ensure
stroke patients receive timely,
evidence based care,” said Ed
Ness, president and CEO of
Munson Healthcare.
Medical Director of Quality Douglas McKay, MD,
nominated the team for the
award. In addition to achieving stroke certification from
the Joint Commission, efforts
by the team also brought
Members of the multidisciplinary stroke team receive their award from Munson Healthcare President and CEO
Ed Ness.
the American Heart Association and American Stroke
Association’s Get With the
Guidelines®-Stroke Bronze
Quality Achievement Award
in 2012 and the Stroke Silver
Plus Quality Achievement
Award in 2013.
In nominating the team, Dr.
McKay cited team efforts to
obtain the stroke certification
which also supports quality
efforts to deliver safe, high
quality, efficient care at Munson Medical Center.
“Their ability to engage so
many departments and community resources is commendable and serves as a
model for other projects,” Dr.
McKay said.
Other physician members of
the team include A7 Medical Director Kersti Bruining,
MD; ED Medical Director
Sally Ancel, DO; Hospitalist
Jacques-Bret Burgess, MD,
MPH; Neurosurgeon Paul
Davis, MD; Hospitalist John
Macnowski III, MD; Medical
Director of C2 Kevin Omilusik, MD; Director of Medical
Education J. William Rawlin,
DO; and Dr. McKay.
The James Stephen Memorial
Quality Award is named for a
former Munson Medical Center Chair of the Quality Committee who was instrumental
in ensuring that quality issues
remained at the top of the
agenda of the Munson Medical Center Board of Trustees.
Stroke Video Contest Winners
A team from Traverse Bay Intermediate School District
recently claimed a $1,000 prize for a northwest Michigan
competition to create a stroke awareness video. Value
Health Partners, a group of eight Michigan health care organizations, including Munson Healthcare, sponsored the
competition. Participants were asked to create a 60-second public service video that would help the public easily
recall stroke symptoms and know what to do. Celebrating
Traverse Bay ISD’s $1,000 prize in the Value Health Partners stroke video contest are from left: Munson
Medical Center’s Clinical Coordinator of the Stroke
Program Christine Peplinski, RN; TBA student Caleb
Breithaupt; Career-Tech Center Principal Patrick Lamb; TBA
ISD student Mallory Heiges; TBA ISD student Alex Burch;
and TBA ISD instructor Scott Tompkins.
Page 3 | MedNews | June 2014
IN BRIEF
Neurologist Joins
Munson Medical Staff
Craig T. Kuesel,
DO, has joined
the staff of
Munson Medical
Center as a
specialist in
neurology. Dr.
Kuesel practices
at 3537 W. Front
St., Suite A, in Traverse City.
His office can be reached at (231)
935-9700, and he is currently
accepting new patients.
Perinatal Summit July 23
at Grand Traverse Resort
The 2014 Perinatal Summit will
be Wednesday, July 23, at Grand
Traverse Resort in Acme. Keynote
speakers include Matthew Davis,
MD, MAAP, who will address
“Measuring Impact in Infant
Mortality Reduction,” and
psychiatrist Maria Muzik, MD, MS,
who will discuss “Mental Health
Issues Related to Pregnancy
Outcomes.”
To register go to
munsonhealthcare.org/
perinatalsummit or call 1-800533-5520.
Medicine and is accepting new
patients.
Dr. Okerson-Sparks now practices at
the Acme office of Creekside Clinic &
Sports Medicine, which is located at
6170 U.S. 31 N. in Williamsburg.
Her office may be reached at (231)
935-0788.
Abbigale J. E.
Wilson, MD,
family medicine,
has joined Bay
Area Family
Care. Her office
may be reached
at (231) 9356750.
Otolaryngologist Drew Collins, MD,
will be leaving the area effective June
27 to practice in another state. His
patients will be transitioned to Cass
Street ENT.
A graduate from the University of
Osteopathic Medicine and Health
Sciences, Des Moines, Iowa, Dr. Kuesel
completed his neurology residency at
Oakland General Hospital, Madison
Heights, Mich. Dr. Kuesel relocated
from private practice.
In the Spotlight
continued from page 1,
Dr. Kiessling
hope to facilitate communica- makes our hospital attractive
tion between Munson Medi- to recruit excellent physicians.
cal Center administration and
What are the challenges
the Medical Staff.
facing Munson Medical Staff
What do you see as the
in the next two years?
strengths of the Munson
We are all acutely aware that
Medical Staff?
the challenges facing the MunI have participated in a num- son Medical Staff presently
ber of health systems over the are more significant than ever
past 22 years. I am amazed at at a national and local level.
the quality of care provided
We will be challenged to creby the Medical Staff through- ate opportunities to expand,
out MMC. The depth of our
improve, and succeed in the
Medical Staff allows us to
environment of the Affordprovide cutting edge medical able Care Act. Physicians are
services for our region with
required to practice medicine
some of the best results in the with increased regulations,
state.
decreased reimbursement, and
technology that sometimes
Our Medical Staff is largely
interferes with the doctorresponsible for the excelpatient relationship.
lent reputation, growth, and
success of our health system. On the local level, the MediWe are very fortunate in that cal Staff will need to adapt
our excellent quality of care
and expand to successfully
I learn from the MEC
members every meeting. I’m
fascinated with how the MEC
functions as the governing
body of the Medical Staff as
well as the mediator between
the medical staff and the
administration.
Anything specific that you
hope to accomplish during
your term?
New challenges arise that
must be addressed at each
MEC meeting. I am not
starting this term with a
specific agenda. However, I
look forward to implementing necessary policies and
tackling some of my own pet
projects as effectively as those
who have served as Medical
Staff president before me. I
Page 4 | MedNews | June 2014
Natalie J.
OkersonSparks, MD,
family medicine,
has relocated
to Creekside
Clinic & Sports
Luis Oxholm, DO, has moved out of
the area effective May 30, 2014.
The Memory & Attention Training
Center has changed their name
to Brain Injury & Cognitive
Rehabilitation Program. They
are still located at Munson
Community Health Center off of
the Physical Therapy Gym. The
Center may be reached at (231)
935-0388, fax (231) 935-0941, or
munsonhealthcare.org/braininjurycognitiverehabilitation.
The Spine and Nerve Pain
Treatment Center is now called the
Comprehensive Pain Management
Program. It remains at Munson
Community Health Center, but all
Comprehensive Pain Management
Program services will be offered in
one location. A move to consolidate
all services is planned for this October
on the first floor of the south entry of
Munson Community Health Center.
The Comprehensive Pain Management
Program may be reached at (231)
935-8540, fax (231) 935-8544,
or email munsonhealthcare.org/
painmanagementprogram
integrate the Cadillac and
Grayling health systems.
This integration will allow us
to better serve the regional
population and prosper in
this competitive market. The
Medical Staff will also need to
adjust to changes associated
with an increasing incidence
of hospital-physician partnership agreements.
Anything else you would like
Munson physicians to know
about you?
I recognize that there are
many on the Medical Staff
who are as qualified as I am to
serve as Medical Staff president elect. I hope that Medical Staff members will reach
out to me and share their
ideas and advice. I consider
this a learning opportunity
and I look forward to the
challenge.