Family Medicine Residency Program Recognized for Increasing Childhood Immunizations Rates in Underserved Areas

The American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation has announced Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center’s Family Medicine Residency Program as a winner of the 2010 AAFP Foundation Pfizer Immunization Awards. 

SJRMC’s program was one of ten in the United States recognized. These celebrated family medicine residency programs have achieved excellence in clinical practice by developing creative solutions that result in increased immunization rates in their communities. 

“This recognition shows the dedication our Family Medicine Residency Program has to all those we serve here everyday,” said Dr. Martin Wieschhaus, Program Director. "This was truly a team effort and reflected an impressive blend of organizational, clinical, and academic skills within a group of high functioning individuals.”

The awards provide monetary grants and scholarships for residents to attend the AAFP’s National Conference, a three-day event held during July in Kansas City designed for residents and medical students to share ideas with family medicine educators and leaders from across the nation. 

“Following the efforts in past years of residents Lindsey Lira, M.D. and Laura Foudy, M.D., the SJFMC PI committee began considering the next cycle of improvement in immunization rates in the winter of 2009-2010,” said Dr. Daniel Triezenberg, Associate Director of SJRMC’s Program. “In collaboration with staff from MHIN, and including efforts from Nurses Betty Swisher and MaryAnn Rompola, a plan was drafted. The plan was implemented in January and a team of nurses and residents including Marin Garcia, Richard Zentz, Laura Foudy, Betty Landesman, Heidi Scott, Betty Swisher, and MaryAnn Rompola, will soon be reviewing the progress made an recommending further improvements.”


Award Categories

The 2010 AAFP Foundation Pfizer Immunization Award winners were chosen for their ability to find and implement team-based solutions that increase immunization rates. The 2010 recipients were chosen for one of the following award categories:

• Best Practices — Effective systems in place that are achieving high immunization rates within a specified 12-month period
• Most Improved — Overcoming barriers to greatly improve immunization rates within a specified 12-month period
• System Implementation — Implementing a new system that will increase immunization rates in medically underserved children

“The AAFP Foundation applauds this year’s program winners for their dedication to protecting children from infectious diseases and to raising awareness of the importance of immunizations to a community’s health and well-being,” said Craig M. Doane, executive director of the AAFP Foundation. “We are proud to recognize programs that share our vision of achieving optimal health for everyone.” 

From left, SJRMC's Betty Landsmen, Betty Swisher, Heidi Scott, Mary Ann Rompola, Dr. Richard Zentz, Dr. Dan Triezenberg, Dr. Laura Fondy, and Dr. Marin Garcia proudly display the AAFP Foundation Pfizer Immunization Award.

Perry Pugno, Director of Medical Education for American Academy of Family Physicians presents Dr. Martin Wieschhaus, Director of SJRMC's Family Medicine Residency Program, with the AAFP Foundation Pfizer Immunization Award.