Baylor Scott & White Health has named Donald E. Wesson, MD, chief academic officer. He will direct physician, nursing and allied health education programs and collaborations, as well as research for the new organization. Baylor Scott & White Health is the newly formed parent company for the combined health systems of Scott & White Healthcare and Baylor Health Care System. Both systems offer robust medical education initiatives, featuring residency programs across many specialties and clinical education programs for medical, nursing and allied health students. The new organization also encompasses several renowned research facilities with histories of developing innovative therapies to improve the care and well-being of the community. Dr. Wesson, a board-certified internal medicine physician and nephrologist, says he intends on building on the legacies marked in both of these areas.
"With an aging population and millions added to the insurance rolls, there has been much made of how the nation's health care system is going to cope," explains Dr. Wesson. "As the largest not-for-profit health care provider in the state, it's critical that we lead the way when it comes to training the next generation of physicians and health care workers who will be caring for Texans for decades to come. Integrating research and education into our clinical enterprise improves the quality and value of the care we deliver to our patients and to health preservation for our communities."
Prior to transitioning to chief academic officer for Baylor Scott & White Health, Dr. Wesson served in a similar role with Scott & White Healthcare as the system's executive vice president for academic operations. He directed all the organization's academic activities, including collaborations with Texas A&M University Health Sciences Center, as well as affiliated nursing and pharmacy schools (at Texas A&M University and University of Texas), schools of allied health, Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
Dr. Wesson, a former board chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine, has dedicated his career to furthering medical research and education. He served on the Baylor College of Medicine faculty from 1983 to 1994 before becoming Nephrology Division chief at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in 1994. Later, he chaired the school's Department of Internal Medicine until 2006 when he came to Scott & White Healthcare as chief academic officer and vice dean of Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine on the Temple campus.
Dr. Wesson is also an accomplished researcher, whose research efforts over the past three decades have focused on kidney function and disease processes. For his achievements in this arena, the American Society of Nephrology – the nation's largest organization dedicated to kidney research and education – recently named a research fellowship in his honor.
About Baylor Scott & White Health
Baylor Scott & White Health, the organization formed from the 2013 merger between Baylor Health Care System and Scott & White Healthcare, is today the largest not-for-profit health care system in the state of Texas. With total assets of $8.6 billion* and serving a geographic area larger than the state of Maine, Baylor Scott & White Health has the vision and resources to provide its patients continued quality care while creating a model system for a dramatically changing health care environment. The organization now includes 46 hospitals, more than 500 patient care sites, more than 6,000 active physicians, 36,000 employees and the Scott & White Health Plan. For more information, visit: www.BaylorScottandWhite.com
* based on unaudited fiscal year 2014 financial statements
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Nikki Mitchell
nikkimit@baylorhealth.edu
office: (214) 820-6961