Department news

Health Administration

In April, the department organized the first Annual "Mind the Gap" conference, which brought together the LLU Schools of Public Health and Medicine to discuss the future of health care. The panelists included: Richard Hart MD, DrPH, LLU, CEO and Chancellor; Barbara Orr, MD, pre-doctoral director of family medicine; George Isaac, MD, associate professor internal medicine; Conrad Cox, MD, internist and partner of Private Medical Group; James Lee, vice president and CFO, Washington Adventist Hospital, Maryland; Renee Hills, director of quality management, LLUMC; and David Holt, vice president of strategic planning, J. L. Pettis Veterans Administration Medical Center.

This conference, which took place in the LLU Medical Center, had well over 100 attendees.

A Town Hall Meeting titled "Code Blue," was held this past May. The keynote speaker was Kathleen O'Connor of the O'Connor Report. Discussion panelists included Brad Gilbert, MD, MPH, medical director, Inland Empire Health Plan; Rhodes Rigsby, MD, director of medical affairs of Loma Linda University Healthcare; and S. Eric Anderson, PhD, MBA, associate professor of health administration, Loma Linda University.

Two new scholarship endowments have recently been established--The Ron and Madge Oh Health Administration Scholarship fund and the Lynna S. Belin Health Administration Scholarship endowment. The department has granted over $100,000 in scholarships in the past three years.

Earlier this year, Loma Linda University was poised to win their first Healthcare Executive College Bowl when a bomb threat forced evacuation of the UCLA facility hosting the event. Loma Linda University will compete against the winner of the UCLA and California State Long Beach match next spring.

Nutrition

The department recently submitted two grants to the National Institutes for Health. "The Effect of Nuts and Other Plant Foods on Adult Diabetes" has been assigned for review at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and provides additional analysis on the data from the Adventist Health Study. "A Feeding Trial with Nuts in Type 2 Diabetic Patients," also under review at NIDDK, will conduct a controlled feeding trial with nuts. The objective will be to test the effect of feeding nut-enriched diets on glycemic control, insulin sensitivity and blood lipids in type 2 diabetic patients and to compare the results to the American Diabetic Association recommended diet.

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