WakeMed Cary is excited to welcome Dr. Gay Gooden as its new medical staff president. This will also be the first time that a female has led Cary Hospital’s medical staff in 25 years.
Below, we chat with Dr. Gooden about her hopes and aspirations in her new role at WakeMed.
How will your new role as medical staff president be different?
I believe that the main role of the medical staff president is to be the representative of WakeMed Cary’s medical staff. I view my role as being the voice of all our providers, particularly in speaking to hospital administration.
How has being an emergency department (ED) physician helped prepare you for this leadership role?
As an ED physician, I am in contact with many physicians and APPS on the medical staff – both in the community and who work at the hospital. This is advantageous because I have so much interaction with the folks that I will be representing. This communication gives me the opportunity to hear their needs, wants and concerns.
What do you hope to accomplish?
There are a few things that I would like to accomplish during my time as medical staff president. I learned so much about patient safety from being medical staff quality improvement (MSQI) chair. I think that there is progress that we can make in the coming years around patient safety.
How has the medical community evolved at Cary Hospital?
I have seen tremendous change in the facility and how we deliver care.
When I started at WakeMed Cary, we had an 8-bed emergency department. Today the Emergency Department has three ‘bays’ where we treat patients in 34 beds.
For care delivery, having a hospitalist program was one of many huge advancements for our patients and for physicians in the community.
Before hospitalists, the community physicians would take turns or rotations, admitting unassigned patients in addition to admitting their own private patients. This was very challenging for them to do in addition to running busy clinics.
The huge growth of the use of advance practice providers, such as PAs and nurse practitioners, has also changed care delivery and improved patient care.
What legacy do you hope to leave?
During my tenure as medical staff president at WakeMed Cary, I look forward to working together with members of our medical staff – both private-practice, community physicians and those employed by WakeMed – so that we can continue to provide exceptional health care that is easily accessible for the greater community.
As physicians, we can work together and overcome any differences we may have by putting Cary Hospital’s patients and their family members first in all we do and in the decisions we make for the future.
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