HJNO Nov/Dec 2023

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS I  NOV / DEC 2023 35 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalNO.com The residency is a 12-month, full-time position with a one-year post-program employment com- mitment. The deadline to apply is Sept. 1, 2023. Four residency slots are available for the inaugu- ral 2023-24 program class. “We are thrilled to launch this important pro- gram. It will equip new family nurse practitioners with the skills they need to care for underserved populations and assume future leadership roles in community healthcare,” said Robert Post, MD, DCHC’s chief medical officer. The primary goals of this program include: • Increasing access to quality primary care for underserved, rural, and special populations. • Providing new family nurse practitioners with a depth, breadth, volume, and inten- sity of clinical training necessary to serve as primary care providers in the complex setting of the country’s Federally Qualified Health Centers. • Improving the skills, confidence, productiv- ity, and job satisfaction of new nurse prac- titioners, specifically in a safety net setting. • Increasing the number of nurse practitio- ners ready to serve in leadership roles in community health centers. The residency program led by Program Director Tanya Theriault, APRN, NP, is specifically intended for new family nurse practitioners who are com- mitted to developing careers as primary care pro- viders in the challenging setting of community health centers and other safety net settings. “The program includes precepted primary care sessions, specialty rotations, mentored indepen- dent clinics, weekly didactic sessions, and partici- pation in Project ECHO and quality improvement training,” said Theriault. NewDirector of Undergrad Ed for BR Campus of LSU Health NONamed Kevin Reed, MD, associate dean for Baton Rouge Affairs at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine’s Baton Rouge regional campus, has appointed Matthew Foy, MD, as director of undergraduate education. “Dr. Foy will be responsible for the oversight and continued development of the student cur- riculum for our Baton Rouge Regional Campus,” said Reed. “He will work closely with our clerkship directors, hospital partners and the Office of Stu- dent Affairs in New Orleans to ensure that our educational environment is conducive to student learning and professional development.” Foy is an associate professor of clinical medi- cine at the LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine’s regional campus in Baton Rouge. He earned a medical degree from LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, followed by train- ing in internal medicine at LSU Health in Baton Rouge. DCHC's Sophia L. Thomas to Be Inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC) announced that Sophia L. Thomas, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, PPCNP-BC, FNAP, FAANP, has been selected to be a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Thomas serves as DCHC’s patient experience officer and is also a family and pedi- atric nurse practitioner. Induction into the acad- emy is a significant milestone in a nurse leader’s career in which their accomplishments are hon- ored by their colleagues within and outside the profession. Fellows are selected based on their contributions and impact to advance the pub- lic’s health. The academy is a policy organization and an honorific society that recognizes nursing's most accomplished leaders in policy, research, prac- tice, administration, and academia to advance equitable solutions to the nation’s most complex healthcare challenges. Academy fellows from over 40 countries hold a wide variety of influen- tial roles in healthcare. Induction into the fellow- ship represents more than recognition of one's accomplishments within the nursing profession. Fellows contribute their collective expertise to the academy, engaging with health leaders glob- ally to improve health and achieve health equity by impacting policy through nursing leadership, innovation, and science. “It is truly an honor to be recognized nation- ally as a nursing leader,” said Thomas. “This will be my third national fellowship, having been previously inducted in the National Academies of Practice in Nursing and the American Asso- ciation of Nurse Practitioners. I am truly excited and humbled to receive this great honor in rec- ognition of my service to the nursing profes- sion through my leadership, practice, policy work, publications, and years of history of volun- teerism to promote the nursing profession as well as improving access to care for patients. Nation- wide, few nurse practitioners hold all three fellow- ships, and I am pleased to be able to represent DCHC in this number.” Thomas, who attended Northeast Louisiana University, Louisiana State University Health Sci- ences Center, and Loyola University New Orleans’ Schools of Nursing, has been a family and pedi- atric nurse practitioner (NP) for 27 years and has served in several elected and appointed NP lead- ership positions on the state and national level, most recently having served as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) presi- dent as well as the AANP 2023 and 2024 National Conference Chair. Thomas has served as a con- sultant for Trump and Biden Administrations rel- ative to COVID vaccinations and in July 2023, her international impact was realized as co-editor of the published textbook Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Anesthetists: The Evolution of the Global Roles. In 2020, Thomas was also chosen as one of Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Influential Peo- ple in Healthcare. “Sophia Thomas has consistently risen to the occasion to provide the best compassionate care to those in the community since she began working at DePaul Community Health Centers in 2016,” said DCHC’s President and CEO Michael Griffin, MSPH, DSc, FACHC. “Sophia being selected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing is a testament to her influence in the medical community and her diligence in ensuring all people receive excellent healthcare.” Through a competitive, rigorous application process, the academy’s fellow selection commit- tee reviewed nearly 400 applications to select the 2023 fellows. The 2023 fellows represent 40 states, the District of Columbia, and 13 countries. Thomas and the 2023 inductees were recog- nized for their substantial, sustained, and signifi- cant contributions to health and healthcare at the academy’s annual Health Policy Conference on Oct. 5-7 in Washington, DC during the induction ceremony on the evening of October 7. This is a historic year for the academy, as the organization