Whitcomb named to new position at Sisters of Providence Health System

SPRINGFIELD Winthrop Whitcomb, M.D. has been appointed to the newly created position of Vice President of Quality Improvement for the Sisters of Providence Health System (SPHS). In this role, Whitcomb is responsible for leading all quality and performance improvement initiatives throughout SPHS. Whitcomb also serves as member of the SPHS Senior Leadership Team.

"Dr. Whitcomb has a national reputation for his commitment to the importance of quality in health care, in addition to tremendous hospitalist experience," said Vincent McCorkle, President and Chief Executive Officer, SPHS. "We are very pleased that Dr. Whitcomb will oversee continuing efforts to achieve and maintain the highest standards of quality of care within our health system."

"Patients and their families come to our facilities with the expectation that they will receive high quality care, and rightfully so. SPHS has long been dedicated to meeting and exceeding that expectation," Whitcomb said. "I look forward to shaping the policies and procedures that will enhance clinical excellence and patient care at Mercy Medical Center and the entire health system."

Whitcomb has been a practicing hospitalist at Mercy Medical Center since 1994, and served as director of the Mercy Inpatient Medicine Service, the nation's first and most widely emulated program with 24/7 on-site hospitalist staffing, until 2004. As a co-founder of the Society of Hospital Medicine, Whitcomb has been nationally recognized as a leader in the U.S. hospitalist movement and the field of hospital medicine. Additionally, Whitcomb co-authored "Hospitalists A Guide to Building and Sustaining a Successful Program," and served as an editor for "Comprehensive Hospital Medicine," a 1,000-page resource designed for hospitalists, residents and medical students. Whitcomb has also written numerous articles for national healthcare publications and has delivered presentations on hospital medicine at hundreds of medical conferences across the country.

Prior to his appointment as Vice President of Quality Improvement for SPHS, Whitcomb served as Director of Performance Improvement at Mercy Medical Center and as Director of Hospitalist Services for Catholic Health East, a 42-hopsital system throughout the eastern United States. He also serves as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.