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NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medicine have received the Emergency Medicine Wellness Center of Excellence Award from the American College of Emergency Physicians for their commitment to the personal wellness and resilience of its emergency medicine department staff. The award was presented at the college’s annual scientific assembly on Sept. 29 in Las Vegas.

“We are honored to be recognized by the American College of Emergency Physicians for our efforts to address burnout and to promote wellness among our emergency medicine staff,” said Dr. Rahul Sharma, emergency physician-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Barbara and Stephen Friedman Professor of Emergency Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. “Our emergency medicine teams inspire us every day with their commitment to delivering the very best care to our patients, and it is incumbent upon us to help them thrive.”

Every year, the American College of Emergency Physicians presents the Emergency Medicine Wellness Center Excellence Award to an emergency medicine group, department or clinical site that incorporates wellness and resilience on an institutional level, and the information gathered during the nomination process is used to develop best practices.

Dr. Lucy Willis and Dr. Renu Mital, both emergency medicine physicians at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and co-directors of emergency medicine faculty wellness, helped develop and implement an innovative and comprehensive wellness program that began in 2016, when the department identified significant challenges facing their specialty, including rising levels of emotional exhaustion among physicians and emergency department staff.

“We have spent the last few years focusing on peer support, as well as combatting stressors inherent to being emergency medicine staff,” said Dr. Willis, who is also an assistant professor of clinical emergency medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.

“Our hope is to continue to inspire a nationwide movement to put the mental and physical well-being of our colleagues first so that they can provide the highest quality of care to patients,” added Dr. Mital, a clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.

The team surveyed frontline physicians to identify what steps could be taken to better support them, and based on those results, developed a wellness program that addresses five key areas, including community and team building to foster engagement; equity and inclusion; operational improvements that encourage work-life balance; and mental health and peer support to make sure colleagues are aware of the resources available to them. Other areas include faculty development to promote professional growth and staff recognition to celebrate and recognize the difference emergency department staff make in the lives of New Yorkers every day.

Some of the program’s improvements included implementing scribes to reduce time-consuming clerical work; instituting breaks during shifts; introducing a night shift reduction program; and streamlining administrative and compliance duties when possible.

The American College of Emergency Physicians promotes the highest quality of emergency care and is the leading advocate for emergency physicians, their patients, and the public. The organization represents more than 38,000 practicing emergency physicians, emergency medicine residents and medical students.