Sudhir Vyas
LOUIS: At the age of 33 years, Dr. Pooja P Vyas has become the youngest Chief Medical Officer and Vice President not only at Christian Hospital in Missouri but also in USA.
Dr. Vyas reached the highest position through her dedication and hard work. In her new assignment as CMO, Pooja will oversee the daily operations of medicine workflow and delivery, at Christian Hospital.
She currently serves on the Christian Hospital by-laws committee, medical executive committee, medical quality review committee and the utilization review committee. She is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives, Society of Hospital Medicine and the American College of Physicians.
Talking to this correspondent on her future plans as the CMO Dr. Vyas says, “I look forward to improving the quality of life of my patients and keeping the aim and objectives of Christian Hospital upper most in my actions. I also will strive to usher in a better coordination between physicians groups at the hospital”.
When asked how at this young age she will handle the elder and senior physicians at the hospital, Dr. Vyas claims “Through better communication with the seniors keeping in mind their seniority, their vast knowledge in medicine but at the same time impressing them of the modern techniques being followed in the medical field and technological advancement. I will always be respectful of their age and will be open to their suggestions. I would like to be the bridge between the young aspiring doctors and the senior physicians”.
According to Dr. Vyas, “My ultimate goal as a CMO would be to ensure how I can help improve the patients life while at the hospital and after they go home. Patient safety and case coordination while working with social worker groups to ensure proper patient care is undertaken”. Asked to elaborate on case coordination Dr. Vyas says, “There are so many homeless poor patients who need post hospitalization care or people with no insurance to care of their medical bills and I would ensure that these patients are not deprived of good medical care”.
Dr. Vyas is also mindful of the heavy responsibility on her shoulder and says, “I got this opportunity at this age which would enable me to put my knowledge, experience and outlook to life to help care for my patients. I feel that this is a God send opportunity to help the poor, needy and sick”.
In these troubled times of Covid-19 Dr. Vyas is also playing an active role in onboarding and orientation of US Naval doctors to help the physicians at the Christian Hospital to overcome the Covid-19 menace.
Asked what plans she had for the Indian community in particular, Dr Vyas says though there are not many Indians here who are in need of such medical help, but yes I would definitely want to help those who have no insurance or help them navigate to cheaper medical facility or medicines. Dr. Vyas has also done medical voluntary work at Kothiya Khad village near Anand in Gujarat, where she also helped in distributing free medicine and medical attention to the villagers.
Dr. Vyas has been with BJC Medical Group since 2019 and for the past year has served as medical director of hospital medicine as an internal medicine hospitalist at Christian Hospital. Prior to this, Dr. Pooja served as an internal medicine hospitalist at Missouri Baptist Medical Center.
Dr. Vyas has proven leadership and success in managing hospital medicine workflow and patient throughput. Over the years she been instrumental in implementing a patient satisfaction pilot program thereby engage physicians to sit during patient evaluations to help improve physician communications with patients.
Before joining BJC, Dr. Vyas was an internal medicine hospitalist at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York for two years, at the same time serving as an assistant professor of medicine at nearby Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine. Interestingly, Dr. Vyas began her medical career as an emergency medical technician for three years before entering medical school.
Despite her young age, Dr. Vyas comes with immense knowledge and experience that will surely drive her success going forward.
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