News Room - Press Releases

News Release
For Immediate Release
For more information, contact:
Lynne B. Zultanky, MSRT
Marketing Manager
(757) 398-2594
Lynn_zultanky@bshsi.com

(Portsmouth, Va. – November 1, 2006) – Jody Gerard, M.D., FACEP, CPE, has joined Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center as medical director of the emergency department.  As medical director he will collaborate with staff, administration and other department leaders to continuously improve patient and physician satisfaction, to improve quality of care and enhance processes to improve patient through-put.

Dr. Gerard received undergraduate training in philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and pursued his pre-medical studies at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He earned his medical degree from Albany Medical College, Albany, N.Y., and completed his residency training in emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Affiliated Residency in Emergency Medicine in 1990. Over the past 19 years, he has practiced clinical and academic emergency medicine in a variety of clinical sites, in both academic and community settings, as well as in urban, suburban and rural communities.

Most recently, Dr. Gerard served at the national level on the Ethics Committee of the American College of Emergency Physicians, focusing on issues of patient choice and responsibility. At Cape Fear Valley Health System in Fayetteville, NC, he was responsible for emergency department practice development and education, where he assisted in improving patient satisfaction scores significantly, improving revenue, decreasing turnaround time and left-without-being-seen rates, and assisted with implementing a variety of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. There he spearheaded the establishment of a disease surveillance programs during influenza season, performed various quality assurance and peer review functions, as well as assisting in instituting chest pain evaluation programs, brain attack programs, advanced triage nursing guidelines, and EMS educational programs. Most recently, he was interim medical director at Aventura Hospital and Medical Center, Aventura, Fla., and medical director of the emergency department at Retreat Hospital, Richmond, Va., as well as an attending emergency medicine physician at HCA hospitals in Richmond, VA

Dr. Gerard has served on numerous hospital committees over the years, and since 2005 he has been a Certified Physician Executive with the American College of Emergency Physicians. Dr. Gerard has had four children and lives with his wife, a doctoral student in clinical psychology. In his spare time, Dr. Gerard enjoys tinkering with stained glass, woodworking, music and reading classic literature.

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Bon Secours Hampton Roads Health System is a leading health care organization known for providing care for the whole person with grace and clinical distinction. Bon Secours brings together a network of hospitals, primary care practices, ambulatory care sites and continuing care facilities to provide quality health care services to the residents of Hampton Roads. Bon Secours, which employs more than 4,500, includes: Bon Secours DePaul Medical Center, Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center, Mary Immaculate Hospital, Bon Secours Health Center at Harbour View, Bon Secours Maryview Nursing Care Center and St. Francis Nursing Center.