Interim leaders, permanent direction

Keeton brings sense of pride, giving to VC’s office

On Dr. James Keeton’s second day in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs, his wife, Jona, stopped by for a visit.

“Did he tell you this was his 10th office?” she asked another visitor. Her husband laughed before adding, “This is my 10th office in 11 years.”

Having reached the pinnacle of leadership at the University of Mississippi Medical Center as interim vice chancellor, Keeton expects this to be his last campus shuffle. He moved into Dr. Dan Jones’ former digs after having served as chief of staff for six years. Jones began serving as chancellor of the University of Mississippi on July 1.

A professor of surgery and pediatrics at UMMC, Keeton began his relationship with the Medical Center after graduating from Ole Miss in 1961.

“So you can imagine how I must feel, pretty emotional,” he said. “To be in this office is a pretty awesome feeling."

A native Mississippian, he earned the M.D. in 1965 at UMMC. He completed five years of residency in urology here.

Keeton said he knows the importance of the Medical Center to the state, especially in addressing health disparities.

“I want us to all continue to have a sense of pride in this place and that working here is a way of giving back to the community,” he said.

-Patrice Sawyer Guilfoyle

Woodward remains committed to continued growth

When Dr. LouAnn Woodward jokes that  people at the Medical Center already know all about her, it’s reassuring.

After recent promotions that added titles of vice dean and interim dean of the School of Medicine, she’s all the more a part of UMMC.

“The focus of my career is at this Medical Center. I feel a dedication to this place,” she said.

Woodward received the interim role following Dr. Dan Jones’ selection as University of Mississippi chancellor. She’ll hold the position until a replacement for Jones is named.

A Carroll County native and 1991 graduate of the medical school she now leads, Woodward specialized in emergency medicine and still pulls ER shifts.

“You’re intersecting with people who are at their most vulnerable: they didn’t pick you as their doctor and it’s probably the last place they want to be,” she said.

“You’ve got just a few seconds when you enter the room to convince them it’s going to be OK and they’re going to be treated well.”

During her residency at UMMC, she realized academic medicine would let her combine the two jobs she’d wanted to hold since childhood: teacher and doctor.

Woodward said she shares Jones’ goals for the School of Medicine: to expand class sizes, add faculty and build the school to best answer Mississippi’s medical needs.

“Dr. Jones built a leadership team around him with a commitment to continued growth. There’s still that committed core,”she said.

-Jack Mazurak

2009-07-13 00:00:00 18947