Seven Jefferson Healthcare Leaders Honored by the Philadelphia Inquirer

When it comes to the movers and shakers in Philadelphia healthcare, Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health innovators take top honors.

Seven Jeffersonians were honored on August 15 at the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Influencers of Healthcare award ceremony. The event celebrated the city’s leading healthcare professionals who go above and beyond to improve the collective health of the city and strive to make a difference in their patients’ lives.

The ceremony, held at the Crystal Tea Room in the Wanamaker Building in Center City, featured a panel discussion on the effect millennial consumer behavior will have on the future of healthcare. Kelly O’Shea, deputy health and science editor of the Inquirer, was the panel moderator, and Anuj Shah, MD, a physician resident training in emergency medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and Brian Sweeney, RN, MBA, FACHE, chief operating officer at Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, served as panelists.

Jefferson physicians, educators, researchers, and leaders honored as “heroes of healthcare” were:

• Excellence in Innovation Award: Bon Ku, MD, MPP
• Excellence in Medical Research Award: Richard J. Smeyne, PhD
• Excellence in Patient Care Award: Marc J. Altshuler, MD
• Nurse of the Year Award: Eddie Welsh, RN
• Outstanding Educator Award: Resa E. Lewiss, MD
• Physician of the Year Award: Julia A. Haller, MD
• Rookie of the Year Award: Austin L. Chiang, MD, MPH