Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/78172
++++++++++++++++++++++++ + + ++++++++++++++++++++++++ HOSPITAL ROUNDS +++ +++ What's New in Local Health Care EUDORA FAMILY CARE PHYSICIAN WINS TEACHING AWARD Daniel S. Dickerson, M.D., Ph.D., was recently awarded the Preceptor Excellence Award by the Medical Student Assembly of the University of Kansas School of Medicine. The annual awards cer- emony recognizes outstanding educa- tors, courses and clinical rotations in medical education. For the third year running, the Preceptor Excellence Award has been awarded to volunteer physicians from all across the state who have welcomed medical students into their practices and communi- ties, providing them with experiences that will shape their careers. Dr. Dickerson has practiced family medi- Daniel S. Dickerson, M.D., Ph.D. cine at Eudora Family Care since 2002. He earned a doctoral degree in biochemistry from the University of Missouri and a medi- cal degree from the University of Kansas Medical Center. Dr. Dickerson has received numerous awards and honors, including recognition on the HealthGrades Honor Roll; the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation Teaching Award, 2005; Rainbow Award for Excellence in Mentoring, 2006; and the Novartis award for Outstanding Commitment to Cardiovascular Disease, 2007. WESLEY SELECTED FOR NATIONAL EFFORT TO INCREASE BREASTFEEDING RATES Wesley Medical Center has been selected to participate in Best Fed Beginnings, a first-of-its-kind national effort to significantly improve breastfeed- ing rates in states where rates are currently the lowest. Although breastfeeding is one of the most effective preventive health measures for infants and mothers, half of U.S.-born babies are given formula within their first week of life, and by 9 months, only 31% of babies are breastfeeding at all. Best Fed Beginnings seeks to reverse these trends by dramatically increasing the number of U.S. hospitals implementing a proven model for maternity services that better supports a new mother's choice to breast- feed. The National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality is leading the effort through a cooperative funding agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and will be working closely with Baby-Friendly USA, Inc. In addition to Wesley Medical Center, 89 other hospitals selected from among 235 applicants are participating in this initiative. Wesley Medical Center was the only Kansas hospital selected to partici- pate in the initiative. The groups will work together in 22-month learning collabora- tives using proven quality-improvement methods to transform their maternity care services in pursuit of "Baby-Friendly" designation. This designation verifies that a hospital has comprehensively implemented the American Academy of Pediatrics-endorsed Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, as established in the WHO/UNICEF Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. Breastfeeding rates are higher and disparities in these rates are virtu- ally eliminated in hospitals that achieve this status. Breastfeeding has multiple health benefits for both infants and mothers. For infants, it decreases the incidence and severity of many infectious diseases, reduces infant mortality and optimally sup- ports neurodevelopment. It also decreases infants' risk of becoming obese later in childhood. For mothers, breastfeeding decreases the risks of breast and ovarian cancers, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and cardiovascular disease.