Those elected are W. Howard Hall, M.D., president; Carolyn I. Mook, M.D., vice president; and Mark S. Brazinski M.D., secretary/treasurer.

The Medical Staff and hospital administration also presented its outgoing president, David S. Abernathy, M.D., of Morganton Internal Medicine, with a commemorative president's gavel/plaque in recognition of his commitment and dedication to the Medical Staff and hospital. Dr. Abernathy will continue to serve as a voting member of the Medical Staff Executive Committee and Credentials Subcommittee.

Incoming president, Dr. W. Howard Hall, of Medical Heights OB/GYN, completed his undergraduate studies at St. Andrews College in Laurinburg and received his medical degree through the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He completed his internship and residency training at Greenville Hospital System in Greenville, S.C. Dr. Hall is Board Certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is a member of the American College of OB/GYN and serves as President of the Piedmont OB/GYN Society in Hickory.

As president of the Medical Staff, Dr. Hall will serve as vice chairman of the Grace and Valdese Hospitals’ Board of Directors. He will oversee all Medical Staff meetings, and serve as Chairman of the Medical Staff Executive Committee and Peer Review Subcommittee. Dr. Hall will supervise the functions of the Medical Staff clinical organization and promote quality hospital services.

Most recently, Dr. Hall served the Medical Staff as vice president, chairman of the Medical Staff Credentials Subcommittee, chairman and member of the Grace Hospital Quality Improvement Committee, and an active member of several other Medical Staff Committees, including the Blue Ridge HealthCare Professional Affairs Committee, Grace Hospital Medical Staff Executive Committee and Peer Review Subcommittee. Dr. Hall has also served as a physician advisor to the Grace Hospital Diabetes Management Advisory Committee and the hospital Performance Management Committee.

Dr. Carolyn Mook, a hematologist/oncologist at the Grace Hospital Cancer Care Center, completed her undergraduate education at Smith College, Northampton, MA and received her medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Her internship and residency training programs in internal medicine, as well as a fellowship program in hematology/oncology were completed at Dartmouth Affiliated Hospitals, Hanover, NH. During her fellowship training, Dr. Mook was an associate clinical professor of medicine at Columbia University and Albany Medical College. Dr. Mook is Board Certified by the American Board Internal Medicine and is a Diplomat of Subspecialty in Medical Oncology.

As vice president, Dr. Mook will represent the Medical Staff as an ex officio member of the Grace Hospital Board of Directors and will be responsible for assuming all duties of the Medical Staff President in his absence. She will serve as chairman of the Medical Staff Credentials Subcommittee and as a standing member of the Quality Improvement Committee, Executive Committee and Peer Review Subcommittee of the Medical Staff. She will also serve on the Grace Professional Affairs Committee.

As a member of the Medical Staff, Dr. Mook has served as chairman of the Grace Cancer Care Committee and Tumor Board, chairman of the Department of Medicine and member of the Grace Quality Improvement Committee, Medical Staff Executive Committee and Peer Review Subcommittee.

Dr. Mark S. Brazinski, of Carolina Orthopaedic Specialists, will serve as secretary/treasurer. Dr. Brazinski completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN and received his medical degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, DC. He completed his residency training program at University Hospitals of Cleveland, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH at which time he was the recipient of the Allen Research Scholarship in Orthopaedic Surgery. While fulfilling his military obligation in the U.S. Air Force at McClellan Air Force Hospital, Mather, CA, Dr. Brazinski was an Active Duty Major and Chief of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Dr. Brazinski received many distinguished awards during his academic and medical training, graduating Magna Cum Laude and Cum Laude respectively and receiving the Peter Kenmore Orthopaedic Surgery Award and Physiology and Biophysics Award; granted the Russell S. Hibbs Award of the Scoliosis Research Society for a paper that was also published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

As secretary/treasurer, Dr. Brazinski will oversee record keeping for Medical Staff meetings and supervise the accountability of Medical Staff funds. He will also serve as a member of the Medical Staff Credentials Subcommittee, Executive Committee, Peer Review Subcommittee, QI Committee, and as the Health Information Services Liaison. Dr. Brazinski has served as the chairman of Grace Hospital Department of Surgery and as a member of the Quality Improvement Committee, Executive Committee and Peer Review Subcommittee.

The 2003 chairpersons for the Grace Hospital Clinical Departments are: Daniel A. Shapiro, M.D., Anesthesiology; Jeff E. Roller, M.D., Emergency Medicine; Shelli E. Cannon, M.D., Family Practice; Roger L. Seagle, M.D., Internal Medicine; Alfred W. Hamer Jr., M.D., Obstetrics; J. Hartley Bowen III, M.D., Pathology; Ivan Carrion, M.D., Pediatrics; Khaja M. Ahsanuddin, M.D., Psychiatry; Robert H. Arthur, M.D., Radiology/Radiation Oncology; Kenneth R. Bonfield, M.D., Surgery.

Each clinical department chair is a member of the Medical Staff Executive Committee. Each chair will assist the Credentials Committee by reviewing applications for privileges and making recommendations relative to their respective disciplines.

Other responsibilities include presiding at all department meetings; following all clinically and administratively related activities of the department; continuous assessment and improvement of the quality of care and services provided; and for the orientation and continuing education of their departments.