Mark Cullen, MD (director, Stanford Center for Population Health Sciences) recently announced the appointment of Dean L. Winslow, MD (professor, general medical disciplines), to the position of academic physician-in-chief at the ValleyCare site of Stanford Medicine.

Winslow, who joined the Department of Medicine at Stanford in 2003 after more than 20 years in private practice and the pharmaceutical industry, views this new appointment as “a nice opportunity. I feel very flattered and honored that Stanford asked me to take on this responsibility.”

Melding two cultures and two institutions will not be without its challenges. Winslow prefers to think of challenges as opportunities: “Stanford acquired this community hospital with a plan to turn it into a new concept of a community teaching hospital. I think this is a wonderful opportunity to help Stanford establish a presence there, and I think it will be good both ways. It will be a great training opportunity for medical students, residents, and fellows.  And Stanford may have a few things to learn from ValleyCare.  This is a hospital that was built 50 years ago and is supported strongly by members of the Pleasanton/Livermore community.  The doctors, nurses, and other staff are very dedicated and experienced, and the patient satisfaction scores at ValleyCare are outstanding."

Already there are positive signs, Winslow continues: ”The physicians at ValleyCare seem to be embracing the change, seeing it as a way of expanding specialty care in some areas.  There are a number of medical and surgical areas where ValleyCare doesn’t really have coverage. By Stanford sending over specialists in such areas either part-time or full-time will really enhance what ValleyCare has to offer.”

One change that will appeal to the primary care physicians at ValleyCare will be implemented in the next few weeks, a fulltime inpatient medicine hospitalist service. Winslow explains: “many of the physicians who practice at ValleyCare focus on outpatient primary care and have to come in to the hospital at all hours to handle unassigned patient who have come to the ER, which is really very difficult and disruptive for them. The hospitalists will reduce the number of those calls that ValleyCare physicians have to take.”

Winslow has already taken up his new position in Pleasanton, commuting there about three days a week while maintaining a presence on the Stanford campus the rest of the time.