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| 10/31/25 |
| Letter from the Chair |
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Happy Halloween and Dia de los Muertos! It’s spooky season—not just because of the ghosts and ghouls that will be out on the street tonight, but because of the respiratory viruses in the air. As we anticipate upticks in respiratory infections in the coming weeks, our Infectious Diseases teams are shoring up coverage across our region.
The ID team at Strong has always provided remote consultation to our Southern Tier affiliates, but the process has been somewhat fragmented. To improve coverage and patient follow-up, the team is developing a formal ID telemedicine service.
Still in the planning stages, the service will provide Southern Tier affiliates with e-consults utilizing chart review and telemedicine consults using a cart equipped with an iPad. The Strong Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy (OPAT) team will ensure continuity of care after patient discharge, making sure labs are done, adjusting medications, providing oversight to home IV infusion teams, and ensuring follow-up with a physician.
The ID team is also working on a plan to provide telephone consultation and telemedicine support to our Finger Lakes affiliates. The plan includes boots-on-the-ground—a rotation of 4 to 5 physicians—to cover inpatient care at FF Thompson and Geneva General.
Working with Pharmacy leaders, we’re also in the process of adding a pharmacist to serve as an antimicrobial steward across the entire UR Medicine network. This pharmacist will perform a gap analysis at each hospital and provide the necessary support to ensure antibiotics are used appropriately and cost-effectively.
These efforts will strengthen affiliate hospitals' ability to manage more complex cases, allowing more patients to receive world-class care close to home. I can’t wait to see it all come to fruition!
Be well,
Ruth O'Regan, MD
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| Multidisciplinary Program Boosts Lung Cancer Screening |
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| A comprehensive program involving Primary Care, Imaging Sciences, Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, and Surgery enabled the UR Medicine primary care network to achieve a 72% lung cancer screening rate, exceeding the national average of 16%. |
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Lupus Education Day: This free symposium, taking place Saturday, November 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., provides state-of-the-art information to individuals with lupus and their families, but is also open to faculty, staff, and trainees. Call (585) 275-2891 or email Christine Pawuk to register.
Cardiac Care Collaborative: Join your multidisciplinary colleagues for this all-day event on Wednesday, November 12, to learn about the latest advancements in cardiac care diagnostics, treatments, and interventions, and to explore the practical challenges of applying these innovations in clinical practice.
Pilot Awards in Translational Science: UR CTSI is seeking applications for five translational science pilot awards of $25,000 to $50,000 in funding (Faculty Data Science, Faculty Translational Science, Faculty UNYTE, Trainee Data Science, Trainee Translational Science). Letters of intent are due Monday, November 17.
DOM Research and Education Awards: Ranging from $20,000 to $40,000, these awards support basic, translational, and clinical research and innovative educational scholarship programs. Faculty with a primary appointment in DOM are encouraged to submit letters of intent by Monday, November 24, at 5 p.m.
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| Youngrin Kim, MD, of Medicine, Highland Hospital, achieved a personal best at the Chicago Marathon on October 12. This was Kim’s seventh marathon and the first he has run in three hours—and he wasn’t even being chased by zombies! Kim got into running to burn off steam during the pandemic and has kept it up ever since. He’s already looking forward to his next marathon in April in Boston, which happens to be his favorite course. Congrats, Dr. Kim! |
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In the News: Ann Falsey, MD, of Infectious Diseases, chatted with WROC 8 about viruses going around in our community right now and reminded our community to get vaccinated for flu, COVID, and RSV.
Publication: Carla Casulo, MD, of Hematology/Oncology, coauthored “Five-Year Follow-Up Analysis of ZUMA-5: Axicabtagene Ciloleucel in Relapsed/Refractory Indolent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma” in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Publication: Fahad Saeed, MBBS, of Nephrology and Palliative Care, authored “Supporting Shared Decision-Making in Life-Altering Kidney Therapy Decisions for Older Adults: A Review” in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Publication: Sule Yilmaz, PhD, of Palliative Care, and Supriya Mohile, MD, and Kah Poh Loh, MBBCh, of Hematology/Oncology, coauthored “Peaceful Acceptance of Illness Among Older Adults with Advanced Cancer” in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.
Publication: Justin Sysol, MD, PhD, of Hospital Medicine, coauthored “Caveolin-1 Is a Central Mediator of Acute Lung Injury in an Animal Model of Sickle Cell Disease” in Pulmonary Circulation.
Publication: Kah Poh Loh, MBBCh, of Hematology/Oncology, coauthored “Self-Reported Unmet Care Needs in Daily Activities Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Cancer: Analyses from the 2015–2019 National Health and Aging Trends Study” in the Journal of Geriatric Oncology.
Publication: Andrea Garroway, PhD, of General Medicine, authored “Implementing a Just-in-Time Precepting Model in Two Integrated Behavioral Health Programs: A Response to the COVID-19 Mental Health Surge” in The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research.
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The Levy Letter is always looking to learn about good things happening here!
Email us with your ideas. |
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