School of Medicine and Crittenton celebrate opening of Wayne State University Physicians Group Family Medicine Center
Maryjean Schenk, M.D., chair of the WSU School of Medicine Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences; Valerie Parisi, M.D.,vice dean of Hospital Relations and Clinical Affairs for the School of Medicine; Lynn Orfgen, president and CEO of Crittenton Hospital Medical Center; Tsveti Markova, M.D., WSU Family Medicine Residency Program director; and Robert M. Mentzer Jr., M.D., dean of the School of Medicine, celebrate the opening of the new center
Robert M. Mentzer Jr., M.D., dean of the School of Medicine, explains the importance of the partnership with Crittenton.
Tsveti Markova, M.D., WSU Family Medicine Residency Program director, said the new center is one of the few nationwide that will function as a patient-centered medical home.
The Sept. 25 unveiling of the center, housed on the entire second floor of a newly built medical office building next to Crittenton Hospital, provided guests with the opportunity to meet the people who developed the center and tour the initial product of the relationship the School of Medicine and Crittenton developed in 2007.
“This center will bring the family medicine philosophy to life by offering patients research-based care in a patient-centered environment,” said Robert M. Mentzer Jr., M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and advisor to the president on Medical Affairs. “If we are to meet the changing needs of the community we serve, we, too, must evolve. It is clear that academic medicine and community medical practices must partner to offer responsive, expert and respectful care. We know that ‘one size cannot fit all’ and that different people require different healthcare settings and services. We are working toward this.”
The new facility, Dean Mentzer said, represents a “paradigm of healthcare collaboration and partnership that is vitally important to our community.”
“Crittenton Hospital and the medical school have forged a partnership to improve the scope of medical education. … This partnership illustrates how education and patient care should intertwine to provide the best possible care for our community today and into the future,” he said. “Having medical students, residents, faculty and academic research at Crittenton enhances both institutions. From our perspective, we're extremely proud to partner with such a respected hospital and provide family medicine care to residents of Oakland County.”
Valerie Parisi, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., vice dean of Hospital Relations and Clinical Affairs for the School of Medicine, thanked Crittenton officials “for making us feel so welcome.”
“Family medicine physicians are special," said Dr. Parisi, who served as mistress of ceremonies during the reception. “They are committed to caring for entire families -- from infants to pregnant women to seniors -- and focus on keeping people well rather than treating specific diseases. A vital and growing medical field, family medicine is increasingly important as our population's needs change.”
The celebration, she noted, “highlights both a new era in family medicine and the medical school's educational partnership with Crittenton Hospital.”
Lynn Orfgen, president and chief executive officer of Crittenton Hospital Medical Center, called the event and center “a new chapter in family medicine residency programs, and a new chapter in how hospitals and medical schools work together.”
“Crittenton is excited to work with Wayne State University on this program,” he added.
The reception and tour of the center also served as a benefit for the Rochester Hills Public Library. Attendees donated children’s books that were in turn presented to the library.
That sense of community is what the WSUPG Family Medicine Center is all about, said Maryjean Schenk, M.D., M.P.H., M.S., chair of the Wayne State University School of Medicine Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences.
“The new WSUPG Family Medicine Center is designed to enhance patient-centered care and to provide a personal medical home to our patients,” Dr. Schenk said. “In partnership with Crittenton Hospital Medical Center, the FMC also provides an outstanding clinical learning environment for our family medicine residents and our WSU medical students. I am absolutely ecstatic that our dream of having a FMC that is designed to be a healing environment has come to fruition, and my greatest wish is that our patients and the community will feel at home in the FMC. Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of individuals, families and the community, and this FMC provides a place to do just that.”
The center will see and provide primary care for patients of all ages, so that all members of a family, from infant to grandparents, have access to cutting-edge, university research-backed medical care in a single setting. Wayne State University faculty physicians and residents will see and treat patients at the center.
"The opening of the new FMC is a ground-breaking event for our residency program, department and the community at large,” said Tsveti Markova, M.D., F.A.A.F.P., the Family Medicine Residency Program director and director of Clinical Operations for the center. “It embodies the integration of our patient care and educational missions. There are only a few centers nationwide that are specifically designed to function as a patient-centered medical home. The focus is on the relationship-based model of high quality, comprehensive and safe patient care, enhanced by information technology.
“I am grateful for the wonderful team of architects, designers, patients, staff and physicians who collaborated with us to accomplish this,” added Dr. Markova, who this year was named Educator of the Year by the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians. “I am sure that physicians practicing and training in this environment will influence the delivery of primary care in the future, improving the health of individuals, families and the community."
