It is with mixed emotions that we announce that Dr. Eric Howell, Professor of Medicine and director of the Division of Hospitalists (also known as CIMS for the Collaborative Inpatient Medicine Service) at Johns Hopkins Bayview, will be appointed as CEO for the Society of Hospital Medicine effective July 1, 2020. We are extremely proud of Eric for being selected to lead his national professional organization, but are also very sad to see him go. Eric has been an exceptional leader, mentor, teacher, scholar and colleague. His contributions to the DOM and to JHM have been substantial.
Eric received his electrical engineering and medical degrees at the University of Maryland before joining the Johns Hopkins Bayview Residency program in 1996. During his ACS year in 1999, it became apparent that inpatient medicine and hospital systems were an area where Eric could combine his engineering training with his clinical skills. In his 20-year career as faculty, Eric became recognized for leading one the nation’s most successful hospitalists programs.
With Eric at the helm, CIMS grew from four members in 2000 to now 50 faculty and staff caring for half of the JHBMC Department of Medicine hospital admissions. In addition to his pioneering work at Bayview, Dr. Howell built a sister CIMS program at Howard County General Hospital in 2010 and oversees the Suburban hospital and Sibley Memorial hospitalist and hospital-based specialists. All told, he has had oversight of 150 physicians in eight clinical programs at four JHM hospitals. The magnitude of Eric’s responsibilities speak to his extraordinary skills in organizing programs and in mentoring his faculty and staff.
Dr. Howell has published in prestigious journals, such as the Annals of Internal Medicine, and has won multiple teaching awards. Remarkably, Dr. Howell has also created and disseminated novel clinical programs that improve the outcomes of hospitalized patients.
The Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), which Eric will soon lead, represents the nation’s 20,000 hospitalists. Dr. Howell is uniquely qualified for this position, having served in numerous local, regional and national leadership roles all related to hospital-based medicine.
Although we will miss Dr. Howell, we are very pleased to announce that Dr. Flora Kisuule will become director of the Hospitalist Division at Bayview effective July 1, 2020. Dr. Kisuule received her medical degree from the University of Minnesota in 2001 and a Masters in Public Health in 2006 from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She trained in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview. Following residency, she joined the Division of Hospital Medicine in 2004. Currently an associate professor, Flora is a nationally recognized expert and leader in hospital medicine and serves on the SHM board. She has broad administrative and clinical experience at Bayview, and has worked internationally to build hospitalist clinical and educational programs in Saudi Arabia, Panama and several other countries. Her expertise in hospital medicine has been recognized with multiple awards locally and nationally. Dr Kisuule has provided oversight over the division’s clinical, operational and educational programs for the past 10 years and is well positioned to help CIMS to continue to flourish.
Please join us in thanking Eric for his important and enduring contributions to the DOM, and in welcoming Flora to her new leadership position.
