Two Department of Pediatrics faculty members have been named to new and expanded roles. Kris Rehm, MD, has been named vice chair of Outreach Activities. Succeeding Rehm in her role as Division Chief for Hospital Medicine is Derek Williams, MD, MPH.
In addition to her new role, Rehm, associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics, will continue to serve as medical director of Hospital Operations for Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. She will also lead a new division, the Division of Pediatric Outreach Medicine, which is being established to provide a home for faculty who primarily work outside of the main campus and Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks.
“Kris has been an outstanding leader as the founding director of the Division of Hospital Medicine, which has grown leaps and bounds under her leadership. In her new role, she will work with hospital leadership, the department and outside partners to continue to build our services in the region and across the state,” said Steven Webber, MBChB, MRCP, chair of the Department of Pediatrics, pediatrician-in-chief and James C. Overall Professor.
“I’m equally excited to announce that Dr. Derek Williams has agreed to serve as the new Division Chief of Hospital Medicine, replacing Kris in her current role. Derek is an accomplished clinician, teacher and educator and has an R01 funded research program focusing on pediatric pneumonia, for which he is an international expert. Derek has articulated a very exciting vision for the division’s clinical care, teaching and scholarship programs, and he has my full support as he pursues his ambitious goals,” Webber continued.
Before joining Vanderbilt as an assistant professor of General Pediatrics in 2005, Rehm was a staff physician at Old Harding Pediatrics.
In 2009 after serving as a hospitalist at Children’s Hospital, she became the first director of the Division of Hospital Medicine for the Department of Pediatrics. Hospital medicine is the specialized practice of general medical care of hospitalized patients.
Rehm received her undergraduate degree from the Ohio University in Athens, and earned her medical degree at Northwestern University in Chicago. She completed a residency at The Boston Combined Residency Program, where she was chief resident.
“I am thrilled to begin working in this new role as vice chair for Outreach for the Department of Pediatrics. I look forward to providing a home for faculty who primarily work outside of the main campus, and to work closely with Children’s Hospital and department leadership to provide care for children closer to home,” Rehm said.
Williams, assistant professor of Pediatrics and Hospital Medicine, came to Vanderbilt in 2008 for a fellowship in General Pediatrics and also received his Master of Public Health degree. He received his medical degree from the Medical College of Georgia in 2005, followed by a pediatric residency at the University of Virginia. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 2010.
“The Division of Hospital Medicine is home to a wonderful group of faculty and staff, and I am honored to have the opportunity to work alongside each of them every day. I am also incredibly thankful to Kris for the truly exceptional job she has done growing and developing our team over the past decade,” said Williams.
“Our shared vision is to lead the country in clinical and educational excellence, scientific discovery, and child health promotion in the field of pediatric hospital medicine. We aim to achieve this vision through the continued growth of our stellar clinical and educational programs, and the development of a world-class clinical and health services research program. I am thrilled about the opportunity to lead this division and look forward to working closely with Dr. Webber and other departmental and hospital leaders to advance child health in our field.”
