For July, 2009

June 29 - Metz writes op-ed for Kansas City star about quarantine

Jonathan Metzl, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry and women's studies at the U-M Medical School, was released from quarantine Monday night after a perplexing attempt by Chinese officials to control the H1N1 virus. None of the American passengers were sick, he writes in the Kansas City Star, but "shrink-wrapped observers" monitored the 50 or so travelers for any signs of the pandemic flu. Other methods for controlling the flu: higher hotel rates for foreign travelers. While America has its own troubled past with quarantine, "in the bigger picture, whatever public health benefits China might gain from its H1N1 policy risks being offset by the negative feelings and publicity it engenders," Metzl writes. He is a Kansas City native and was in Shanghai to lecture at a medical school.

June 29- Dr. Roger Smith quoted in the Detroit Free Press

UMHS obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Roger Smith was quoted in a Detroit Free Press article on a non-invasive permanent form of birth control called Essure that involves inserting a tubal coil inside each fallopian tube. The relatively inexpensive and quick procedure is gaining popularity among women. Smith told the Free Press that some women still prefer intrauterine devices (IUDs) because "for most people an inter-uterine device is a better choice." They're safer in the long-term, he says, and IUDs can be removed and are cheaper. "The way I counsel people is by asking, 'Are you sure you want this done?' ... And if not an IUD, why not a vasectomy? Both are proven, easy, cheap and compared to Essure, they are a better choice for a couple."

June 22- Dr. Green featured in ABC News article

Lee Green, M.D., was quoted in an ABC News article about what patients do that frustrates their doctors. Green, professor of family medicine at the U-M Medical School, said, “The most frustrating thing for me is patients whose lifestyle is making them miserable but they won’t change it… they’re dead set on the idea that the fix is a drug, or an injection, or surgery.”

June 18-19 — UMHS makes news with 2009 finances

The Ann Arbor News and the Detroit Free Press both wrote articles about the University of Michigan Health System’s 2009 fiscal year, as it was able to earn a projected $14 million. UMHS was one of few health systems to stay in the black.

June 18 - C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Detroit Free Press, more

The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, part of the University of Michigan Health System, made news when it was named one of the top pediatric hospitals in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report. The Detroit Free Press and the Ann Arbor News wrote about the accomplishment, while TV station WXYZ mentioned it in a broadcast.

June 17- U-M poll makes national news

A recent University of Michigan poll that measured consumer confidence in the health care system made national headlines after its June 17 release. It was featured in articles in ABC News, the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, MyFox Detroit, CNBC, and in broadcasts for CNN, WJBK and WDIV.The poll found that nearly half of all Americans are worried about paying for future care.

June 15-22 — Dr. Sachs in Seattle Times, Health.com and more

Dr. Dana Sachs, associate professor in the Department of Dermatology, and colleagues had their research displayed in the Seattle Times, Health.com, Science Daily, and in a WJBK broadcast. The group found that topical application of fluorouracil, a chemotherapy medication, can rejuvenate the skin’s look and reduce potentially precancerous skin patches.

June 16-18 — Pfizer purchase makes the news

Late on Tuesday afternoon, the University completed its purchase of the former Pfizer, Inc. pharmaceutical research facility in northeast Ann Arbor, adjacent to the current North Campus. The 174-acre property, which contains 30 buildings encompassing 2 million gross square feet of laboratory and office space, has now become part of North Campus, and the buildings will collectively be known as the North Campus Research Complex. The new facility will greatly expand U-M research space and allow for new innovative collaborations within U-M and with the private sector.

Read more in these stories in the Ann Arbor News, the Ann Arbor Business Review and the Ann Arbor Chronicle, an online-only publication that sent a reporter to witness the transfer of the property deeds. Crain's Detroit Business (http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20090614/FREE/306149972 ) also recently carried an article about the potential for the new complex to become the new home of some of the UMHS operations that currently occupy leased space in the community, although specific plans for any such moves are still to come. To learn more about the new campus, and the process for planning for its use, visit the North Campus Research Complex Web site (www.umresearchgrowth.org).

June 18 - Dr. Pescovitz profiled in Ann Arbor News

Today's Ann Arbor News has a major profile of Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, M.D., who became the CEO of the U-M Health System in mid-May. It focuses on the reasons she decided to come to Michigan from Indiana, and the opportunities and economic challenges she and all of UMHS face during the current economic times. Read the profile here and learn more about Dr. Pescovitz on her official UMHS web site here.

June 12 - Quality collaborations in the media spotlight

For several years, U-M has helped lead statewide collaborative efforts to help Michigan hospitals share data and "best practices" in different areas of care, such as angioplasty and general surgery. Recently, those quality collaboratives were featured at an event hosted by the Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation, the joint venture of U-M and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan that is headed by Marianne Udow. CHRT's symposium was summarized in this story in the Ann Arbor Business Review. The entire event can be viewed online in streaming video format here; the speakers' slides are also available.

One of the quality collaboratives, which focuses on improving cardiovascular imaging, published results of its efforts in the June 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, showing how radiation doses to patients during cardiac CT imaging could be reduced. A Crain's Detroit Business article about that study is here. That collaborative is headed by Beaumont Hospital, but most of the others are led by U-M. All are funded by BCBSM as part of its "Value Partnerships" initiative.

For more information:

Members of the UMHS community can receive a daily e-mail that gives information, and links, for the previous day's major news stories featuring UMHS faculty, staff and issues. Send a message to umhsmedia@umich.edu and request to be added to the Daily Clips list. This service is free and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Recent press releases written by the U-M Health System and Medical School

To contact a Health System or Medical School media coordinator to suggest a story idea, e-mail umhsmedia@umich.edu

List of media coordinators, and more information on the Department of Public Relations and Marketing Communications