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Three BWH physicians are among local health care champions honored by the Boston Business Journal (BBJ) in a special supplement in the newspaper's Aug. 5 edition.
Joseph Murray, MD, BWH's chief plastic surgeon from 1951 to 1986, was honored for lifetime achievement. In 1954, Murray and a team of surgeons completed the world's first successful human organ transplant. That kidney transplant “helped launch a new field of medicine,” according to the BBJ. Today, Murray lectures around the world and is working on his second book, “A Tapestry of Living: Family, Surgery and Science.”
Chief Medical Officer Andy Whittemore, MD was honored as a champion administrator for devoting much of his 30-year career to improving safety. Under his leadership, BWH has created an office of patient safety, worked to limit residents' hours and implement a bar-coding system, all in a quest to minimize errors and bolster safety for both patients and staff. In addition, Whittemore and Director of Pharmacy Services Bill Churchill were featured in a BBJ article about BWH's achievement of an 85 percent drop in medication errors when prescriptions from the in-house pharmacy were moved from paper to a bar-code system.
Stephen B. Corn, MD, BWH anesthesiologist and director of Clinical Innovation at BWH and Children's Hospital Boston, was the sole honoree in the newspaper's “Champion Innovator” category. The holder of 28 patents, Corn has invented new technologies to prevent clinicians from injecting medicine into incorrect pathways, a device to secure epidural catheters and prevent their inadvertent disconnection and a non-contact and continuous breathing and apnea monitor, among many other inventions that enhance the quality of patient care. In addition, he co-founded www.TheAnswerPage.com, an innovative educational web site used in more than 40 countries and ranked nationally among the top eight for providing CME.