Vladimir Kvetan, MD Dr. Vladimir Kvetan, Chief of the Division of Critical Care Medicine, was a co-recipient of the Montefiore President's Award on Monday, May 7th, 2012.
Dr. Kvetan has established a superb Critical Care service line for the medical center, and an increasingly strong Division of Critical Care Medicine for the Department of Medicine and for Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
By creating uniform staffing of the units, Dr. Kvetan has been able to attain the highest level of patient care outcomes and safety, as recognized in the regular "Leap Frog" recognition of the units.
About a year ago the Wall Street Journal ran an extensive and laudatory article on Montefiore's ICUs under Dr. Kvetan's leadership, particularly their short length of stay, strong use of advanced directives, constant innovation, and breaking down of traditional silos. His units have also been highlighted in a recent AHRQ "Innovations Exchange".
Dr. Kvetan has recruited innovative faculty members and has built a broad-based division, including educators who are prominent on the national level, and investigators who are funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Kvetan has been a leader in recruiting and enabling faculty members who have expertise in palliative care medicine as practiced in the intensive care unit. This emphasis has improved both the medical outcomes of patients in our units and the satisfaction of the families as they struggle with tragic, and often irreversible, illness. He has been an early and strong advocate of using digital technology to advance Critical Care Medicine. Additionally, he was one of the first to connect the campuses by videoconferencing for purposes of daily "virtual rounds".
Dr. Kvetan has served as Chairman of the Committee of Fellowship Program Directors of the Society of Critical Care Medicine for the 250+ accredited fellowship programs in the USA. He has served as Chairman of the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) Critical Care Medicine Leadership Network, consisting of 75+ member hospitals in the NY metro area. This is a forum created to build a regional critical care infrastructure to improve patient care and to standardize staff education, protocols, and services. The Network has also fostered important data pooling and data mining research projects.
As part of his leadership in this network, Dr. Kvetan founded an annual Symposium on Critical Care Controversies, a debate-style program focusing on controversial issues within a broad spectrum of critical care and emergency medicine services. Last fall, the Symposium featured 24 critical care experts from the Greater New York region who deliberated and examined the pros and cons of clinical therapies and operational strategies.
Dr. Kvetan's leadership in this Greater New York Network has also enabled him to create an ultrasound and cardiac echo program for all New York metropolitan area intensive care fellows, which this year (its fifth) was held at the Gottesman Center simulation facility.