Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Phil Alexakos, Chief of Environmental Health and Emergency Preparedness



For today’s interview I return to the Manchester Health Department to talk with Phil Alexakos, the Chief of Environmental Health and Emergency Preparedness Division, about how he and his department plan and prepare for public health crises. As we remembered the 14th anniversary of the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 just a few days ago, Phil’s division’s focus has expanded from naturally occurring public health threats like pandemic flu to responding to bioterrorism. The interview is fascinating because Phil and his colleagues focus on developing capabilities to respond to a wide array of unknown and unknowable events by finding ways to repurpose existing infrastructure in diverse ways. The podcast concludes with how government organizations like the Health Department cannot do this mission alone – they need the help of an army of volunteers. While Phil talks about some of the volunteer programs specific to New Hampshire, listeners should consider what opportunities they have to help make their communities more robust.

Links to the Podcast:
Anchor: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Phil-Alexakos--Chief-Of-Environmental-Health-And-Emergency-Preparedness-egra92
Stitcher: https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?af_dp=stitcher://episode/40479354&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/40479354
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/phil-alexakos-chief-of-environmental-health/id981989377?i=1000352240222

Podcast timeline:

Time
Topic
0:01:35
background and early career
0:10:45
organization of emergency public health in NH
0:15:27
shifting planning, post-9/11
0:20:46
Manchester's anthrax history
anthrax at UNH
0:24:53
data surveillance for public health emergency detection
0:28:49
mass treatment - Points of Dispensing (PODs)
0:36:29
formal partners for emergency planning
0:42:03
planning for shelter operations
0:49:40
the planning group and role of the health care system
0:55:39
incident command, the EOC and the MACE
0:58:02
planning for MED Surge - accordion planning
1:05:15
integrating community based groups
Medical Reserve
CERTs



Links discussed and for further reading:

Manchester Health Department http://www.manchesternh.gov/Departments/Health

NH Responds: New Hampshire Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals https://www.nhresponds.org/

Medical Reserve Corps https://www.medicalreservecorps.gov/HomePage

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) http://www.fema.gov/community-emergency-response-teams

FEMA Incident Command Training https://training.fema.gov/nims/

CDC - Public Health Preparedness Capabilities:National Standards for State and Local Planning http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/capabilities/index.htm

Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act http://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/legal/pahpa/Pages/default.aspx

National Health Security Strategy http://www.phe.gov/preparedness/planning/authority/nhss/Pages/default.aspx




We are now using TinyLetter to send out announcements related to the podcast!

You can subscribe by entering your e-mail address below.

We will send out no more than one e-mail each week.




powered by TinyLetter

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Bridget Stewart, Vice President for Physician Services, Elliot Health System



Today’s guest is Bridget Stewart, the Vice President for Physician Services at the Elliot Health System in Manchester, New Hamsphire. Bridget’s career spans a wide variety of hospitals and clinical activities, but always focused on operations management. She has worked at several world famous Boston hospitals such as Brigham and Women’s, Boston Children’s and most recently before coming to the Elliot, as the Vice President for Operations at the Joslin Diabetes Center. In addition to earning her Bachelor’s degree from Health Management and Policy here at the University of New Hampshire, she holds an MBA and a Doctor of Law and Policy. In this podcast she talks about her career journey and some of the differences between the organizations she has worked for, and concludes with advice to early careerists. This full-length podcast is approximately 84 minutes in length – an abridged version of the podcast is available that only focuses on her roles at Joslin and the Elliot. 



Links to the Podcast:
Anchor: 
                     Unabridged: https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/Bridget-Stewart--Vice-President-for-Physician-Services--Elliot-Health-System-egraac
                 
                      Abridged:  https://anchor.fm/healthleaderforge/episodes/AbridgedBridget-Stewart--Vice-President-for-Physician-Services--Elliot-Health-System-egra7b
Stitcher: https://listen.stitcher.com/yvap/?af_dp=stitcher://episode/40329882&af_web_dp=https://www.stitcher.com/episode/40329882
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bridget-stewart-vice-president-for-physician-services/id981989377?i=1000351059011

(the following times apply to the unabridged version of the podcast )

  Time                                    Topic
0:01:28
-
0:10:32
education at HMP and MBA
0:10:32
-
0:12:40
University of Iowa Medical Center, Division of Cardiology
0:12:40
-
0:19:07
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Department of Medicine
0:19:07
-
0:36:43
Boston Children's Hospital, Department of Cardiology, management grand rounds, management of philanthropic funds
0:36:43
-
0:41:12
earning a Doctorate of Law and Policy, coordination of electronic medical records
0:41:12
-
0:50:29
Vice President for Operations, Joslin Diabetes Center
0:50:29
-
0:55:49
reflecting on the Boston health care community
0:55:49
-
1:11:31
Vice Preseident for Physician Services, The Elliot Health System
1:11:31
-
1:15:43
thoughts on leadership
1:15:43
-
1:19:47
mentorship and networking
1:19:47
-
1:21:52
advice to early career women leaders
1:21:52
-
1:24:02
advice to administrative interns
1:24:02
-
1:26:09
advice to early careerists

Links to Topics Discussed:

Health Management and Policy

St. Ambrose University MBA

University of Iow Medical Center

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Boston Children's Hospital

Joslin Diabetes Center

The Elliot Health System





Join our mailing list to get notified when new episodes become available.