by Paul Govern
Internal medicine specialist Jennifer Green, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Medicine, and surgeon Marc Bennett, MD, MMHC, professor of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery, have been appointed co-executive medical directors for patient safety for Vanderbilt University Hospital (VUH) and Clinics.
Green formerly served as quality and patient safety director in the Department of Medicine and Bennett formerly served as director of quality in the Department of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery.
The two succeed Patty Wright, MD, professor of Medicine, who in July was named chief of staff for adult ambulatory services for Davidson County.
The two will report to Jenny Slayton, MSN, RN, Senior Vice President for Quality, Safety and Risk Prevention.
“For our clinical teams, patient safety is job one,” Slayton said. “With Jennifer and Marc joining our team, we look forward to advancing centralized support for patient safety across the enterprise.”
While focusing on the adult clinical enterprise across the VUMC main campus, the two will also serve as consultants for clinical safety to VUMC’s outlying hospitals and clinics and the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network.
Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Medicine and physician in chief of VUH, said, “I’m delighted to have Jennifer and Marc leading safety initiatives for our adult enterprise. I look forward to working with them both as we continue to advance safety for all of our patients.”
Eben Rosenthal, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery, said, “Marc has been very successful at improving quality within our department. I am excited to see what Jennifer and Marc can do together as a team to improve safety across the VUMC enterprise.”
Rathmell also announced that Edward Gould, MD, assistant professor of Medicine, will succeed Green as director of quality and patient safety for the Department of Medicine.
“I’m very pleased that Ed has accepted this role for our department,” Rathmell said. “It was just perfect that he could give grand rounds recently, so that he could be introduced to the department as a whole. I am very excited for his leadership as we roll out more quality initiatives in the new year.”
