When former Nashvillian Carol O’Hare speaks about a specific group of physicians at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC), her voice softens, and she refers to them affectionately as “my fellows.”

The most recent Credo Award and Five Pillar Leader Award winners were announced at this week’s Clinical Enterprise Leadership Assembly at Langford Auditorium.

“Building an empowerment culture” was the theme of the Spring 2016 Clinical Enterprise Leadership Assembly at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) for more than 900 staff and faculty leaders who attended the quarterly assembly at Langford Auditorium.

During a deployment as a military surgeon more than a decade ago, Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Tim Nunez, M.D., felt ill prepared to perform complex trauma surgeries for an Iraqi family caught in a fire fight, but he's now committed to helping military personnel become better trained for these types of emergencies.

Disrespectful and unsafe behavior by physicians and advanced practice medical professionals can undermine health care teams, but research shows that often a simple conversation to make an individual aware of their action can promote self-reflection and change.

An initiative to add beds in strategic locations throughout Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), decrease patients’ length of stay and focus on morning discharges is paying off with improved patient access to services, hospital leaders say.